Toothbrushing, flossing, and patient motivation: Dental assisting

Toothbrushing and flossing are daily habits that can have a positive impact on a person’s oral and overall health. However, although most people understand the importance of brushing and flossing, they often do not do them consistently. As a dental assistant, you’ll play an important role in building a partnership between your patients and the dental team by teaching patients about the causes of dental disease and motivating them to develop a lifelong habit of oral hygiene.

Now, most patients are not skipping brushing and flossing because they don’t care about their teeth. Instead, they are often dealing with real-life barriers that stand between them and their toothbrush!

Picture a parent who finally sits down at the end of a long day. The kids are asleep. The house is quiet. It’s late, their energy is low, and they want to go straight to bed. If they skip their nighttime brushing and flossing, it isn’t because of a lack of knowledge. Their barrier is fatigue.

Now think about an older adult with arthritis in their hands. They want to floss, but holding the thin strings of floss between their stiff fingers is uncomfortable. What looked simple in a demonstration turns out to be frustrating when they try it at home, so they give up. Their barrier is physical.

Other people don’t establish a regular oral hygiene habit because of discomfort. They might say, “When I floss, my gums are tender and they bleed, so I stopped.” In this case, their barrier is a lack of understanding, because they may not realize that bleeding can be a sign of inflammation that will often improve with consistent flossing.

Similarly, someone might feel there’s little or no risk in being inconsistent with their brushing and flossing routine. They might think, “Nothing hurts, so I think I’m fine.” If they haven’t experienced tooth decay or gum disease before, they may not see daily oral hygiene as urgent. After all, when everything seems normal, skipping oral hygiene can seem to be free of any real consequences.

Finally, past failures are another common barrier. A person might admit, “I always start strong but then I lose my momentum.” That history can make a person feel discouraged before they even think about trying again.

These barriers are common, and they are human. Recognizing them can help the dental team respond to their patients with support instead of frustration.

Now, keep in mind that motivating patients to develop effective toothbrushing habits should begin with making toothbrushing easier for a specific patient. Let’s start with the toothbrush. If a patient has a condition that causes their hand to get tired during toothbrushing, an electric toothbrush may make brushing easier; or they could break a two-minute brushing session into two or three shorter sessions. For patients who have difficulty gripping a small toothbrush handle, a toothbrush with a larger handle may feel more comfortable.