[Click! Health] Is the Correct Brushing Method ‘3-3-3’? Now Try ‘0-1-2-3’

As gum disease is rapidly increasing, there is a claim that in order to prevent it, we must innovate from a tooth-cleaning-centered brushing method to a gum-centered 'standard gum brushing method.' Additionally, it is pointed out that to achieve this, people need to adopt the '0-1-2-3 brushing habit' instead of the traditional '3-3-3' brushing method.

[Photo by Korean Association for Oral Health]

The standard gum brushing method (a modified Bass technique) involves positioning the toothbrush bristles at a 45-degree angle to the gum line, giving 5 to 10 small vibrations in place, and then using the wrist to rotate and sweep from the gums toward the teeth. Along with this, the 0-1-2-3 brushing habit means brushing without stimulating the gums, within 1 minute after meals, for at least 2 minutes, and at least 3 times a day.

Park Yong-deok, president of the Korean Association of Oral Health, emphasized the importance of these habits, stating, “For the many people who still do not know the connection between gum disease and systemic diseases and continue to adhere to tooth-cleaning-centered brushing methods, we will actively promote the standard gum brushing method focused on the gums and the ‘0-1-2-3 brushing habit’ that breaks the framework of the ‘333 rule.’” He explained that since gum disease has surpassed the common cold to rank first in outpatient frequent diseases for three consecutive years since 2019, innovation in brushing methods is necessary.

This claim is based on the 'Oral Health and Brushing Habit Survey after COVID-19,' jointly conducted and recently announced by the Oral Health Association and Philips Korea. The survey was conducted from February 27 to last month on 1,000 adults nationwide.

The survey results showed that although interest and efforts in improving brushing habits and oral care have increased since COVID-19, the majority of the public still do not properly recognize that periodontal disease can adversely affect systemic diseases. Furthermore, many maintain tooth-cleaning-centered brushing habits and neglect efforts to care for their gums, revealing incorrect brushing habits.

Among respondents, 46% answered that their interest in improving brushing habits and oral care has increased, and 45.5% and 41.6% respectively reported increased interest and consumption of oral care products. On the other hand, 72.5% of respondents did not properly recognize that gum disease can seriously affect systemic diseases, showing little change compared to before COVID-19 (74.7%).

In particular, 81.9% of respondents rated their brushing habits as ‘average or above,’ and 65.9% selected ‘correct brushing habits’ as the most important factor in preventing gum disease. However, only 37.4% said they pay attention to ‘cleaning the gum line,’ which is the core of gum disease prevention, showing little difference from before COVID-19 (31.4%).

[Photo by Korea Oral Health Association]

Among the 626 respondents who answered that gum line care is not a priority during brushing, the reasons were as follows: ‘I think brushing teeth also cleans the gum line (62.3%),’ ‘Brushing the gum line causes bleeding and severe pain (21.1%),’ ‘I didn’t know the gum line should be brushed as well (19.2%),’ and ‘I don’t know how to brush it (19.2%).’

Moreover, 62.9% of respondents experienced gum bleeding during brushing, and among the 554 who had gum disease, 45.1% said they endure the pain or do not pay attention to it. Only 9.4% said they practice gum massage or the Bass brushing method, which are effective for gum pain when gum disease occurs. Awareness of the Bass brushing method specialized for gum care was also low at 44.1%, compared to 83.8% for the rotary brushing method.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.