I almost always read in the news/press that dentists recommend to brush teeth two times a day for 2-3 minutes.
This drives me crazy, because it does not make sense; The point for dental health is to systematical clean every surface of your teeth twice a day (and use inter-dental brushes/floss once a day). For me, brushing my teeth takes around 6 minutes, if I hurry up. For someone faster it might be possible in 1 minute.
So, why do dentists always give the 2-3 minutes recommendation?
I think it’s a game of diminishing returns.
Let’s say 6 minutes gives you perfect 100% cleaning.
Well 30 seconds probably already gets you 50% or more of the total benefit just by getting fluoride on your teeth and rinsing your mouth a bit so getting people to 3 minutes is probably approaching perfection anyway and if you start asking people to do 6 minutes then they’ll say fuck it I won’t bother at all so settle for the 80% win.
I assume.
