words Al Woods
Let’s set the scene.
You’re leaving for a weekend break but are running late for your train. You packed your bag the night before though so are confident that you’ve got everything you need.
However, halfway through your journey, you remember you took your toothbrush out to clean your teeth in the morning. You slump back in your chair in annoyance and start thinking of ways to overcome the issue. Your dentist would not be impressed.
D’oh!
It’s easy to forget our toothbrush from time to time when staying overnight somewhere. We all do it – but what can you do when faced with such a disastrous scenario?
Not having a toothbrush or squirt of toothpaste to hand can leave us wanting to avoid the outside world, thanks to the overwhelming anxiety over how bad our breath will be. Have no fear though – we are here to help.
Listed below are five alternative things you can either use or do to ‘brush’ your teeth, keeping those smelly breath fears at bay.
1. Dental Floss
Flossing is a vital part of teeth cleaning that shouldn’t be ignored. However, many of us fail to include it as part of our cleaning schedule and are left to deal with teeth sensitivity as a result.
If you’ve somehow managed to forget your toothbrush but remembered to bring your floss, take full advantage and use it to remove any food particles that have got stuck between your teeth. In combination with water, dental floss is a great way of keeping your teeth as clean as possible, leaving your mouth feeling a whole lot fresher.
2. Paper Towel (and Finger)
There’s no need to fear paper cuts when using paper towels as a toothbrush substitute. This hard-hitting method of tooth brushing hits plaque hard and ensures no trace of any food is left between your teeth. All you need to do is wrap a piece of the paper towel around your finger and you’ve got a really useful tooth cleaner.
Certainly a method aimed at those with very limited resources to hand, while it may not be as effective as a toothbrush, it is a quick way of cleaning the front and surface areas of your teeth well enough for you to get on with your day.
3. Rinsing
Working wonderfully in combination with the paper towel method, water is an excellent way to ensure your mouth feels cleaner after eating. Simply pour yourself a glass of water to accompany your paper towel method and swirl it in your mouth once you’ve brushed for around two minutes or so.
Rinsing with water will loosen any tougher plaque that is still lingering and ensure there will be no dirt left on the surface of your pearly whites. Once you spit out the water, ideally into a sink, the plaque that was stubborn enough to withstand the paper towel should also be removed.
4. Baking Soda
Baking soda has always been an effective tooth cleaner yet many are perplexed as to how to prepare it before brushing. However, it’s incredibly straightforward. All you need to do is mix a little bit of baking soda with some water to form a smooth paste. You then simply need to rub this solution on your teeth, using the paper towel method we mentioned earlier.
Don’t forget to rinse your mouth afterwards too – baking soda isn’t the nicest tasting stuff, so you’re going to want to wash away the taste once you’ve finished rubbing the solution on.
Using this method should leave your teeth looking nice and pearly white, thanks to baking soda’s famed whitening capabilities. Just one word of caution though – make sure you don’t swallow it!
5. Oil
Hugely popular in today’s beauty-orientated world, oil-pulling involves taking a spoonful of sesame or coconut oil and swirling it around your mouth – in the same way, you would if you were rinsing with water. The reason for this is because the oil is believed to help lift toxins off from within the mouth, therefore providing additional health benefits on top of teeth cleaning.
What’s more, oil is also believed to have whitening properties, meaning your teeth should be looking shiny and new again in no time! You may even want to adopt the method instead of using your toothbrush and toothpaste, although we would definitely not recommend that.
