Is it really necessary to brush your teeth twice a day?

Yesterday, while I was listening to the Broers podcast during my lunch for some relaxation, something very bizarre happened. This is generally not exactly a podcast with educational purposes — quite the opposite actually — but I learned something from those Sam and Rijk Hofman. They proclaimed that according to dentists, you only need to brush your teeth once a day. Eh, excuse me? Is my whole life suddenly a lie?

Of course, I immediately checked with the All-Knowing Oracle, also known as Google, how this exactly was and yes, they are right. Well, according to one source at least. This was addressed in December 2020 at Max Vandaag in this article, in which they mention that ‘it is sufficient to remove plaque once every 24 hours’. And you remove plaque by brushing your teeth.

But well, one source is of course not enough and unfortunately, it seems that all dentists further recommend to really stick to brushing for two minutes twice a day. I must mention that the reasoning behind this is sometimes lacking, where MAX Vandaag states that removing plaque once every 24 hours is sufficient, dentist Kimberly Harms says that brushing less than twice a day actually leads to cavities due to that same plaque and the acid produced.

Confusion all around, then. Dentists agree that brushing more than twice is not done and only works counterproductively. Okay, okay, but the times are set, right? Just in the morning and before going to bed? Not if it’s up to the University of Pennsylvania, where Denis Kinane is a professor: according to him, it’s better to brush your teeth between dinner and going to bed. Never knew there would be so many different opinions about something as simple as brushing teeth.