Is it pointless to brush your teeth without toothpaste?

Answer 1

Absolutely not.

In fact, toothpaste is relatively unimportant when you think about what it is you are trying to accomplish when you brush.

By brushing, your goal is to dislodge as much bacterial plaque from your teeth as possible. The bristles (and your arm) do the work. Toothpaste, which has some abrasive materials as well as materials that create suds, simply help the process. Of course, most toothpastes also contain fluoride, which is good, but of miniscule importance when compared to that of removing bacterial plaque.

Look at it this way, if you were simply to swish and spit with toothpaste rather than brush, you'd end up with far more cavities than you would by brushing without toothpaste.

Answer 2

Not at all. The bristles do the major part of the cleaning, so don't worry if you don't use toothpaste. Okay, it does apply good stuff to your teeth or freshen your breath, but it's not pointless.

When we learned "disease control" in dental school, we were not allowed to use toothpaste, just to prove to ourselves that it worked fine without toothpaste.

Answer 3

No, the most important thing is that you brush. Toothpaste has just positive side-effects like fluorides, abrasive material and good taste. So before you don´t brush at all..., brush with your "naked" toothbrush and water. But maybe your breath won´t be that fresh afterwards.

Answer 4

no, I asked my dentist the very same question and he said toothpaste is fine but the important thing is the actual brushing and more important is the flossing

Answer 5

I guess it's better than nothing at all but not as good as using toothpaste.

Answer 6

Nope, not at all.

i NEVER USE TOOTHASPTE.