Brushing

Proper brushing takes 2-3 minutes. Use short gentle strokes paying attention to crowded or hard to get areas like the back of your lower front teeth.

Use a soft brush. If you use a hard bristle brush you run the risk of causing gum recession and exposing the roots of your teeth.

Use your wrist. If you scrub with your elbow, back and forth, you are probably putting too much pressure on your teeth. It's OK on the tops of your teeth, but on the sides use an up and down or small circle motion with your wrist.

Manual or Mechanical? It doesn't matter to me. Use whatever you are most comfortable with. I do recommend mechanical toothbrushes for children since they often haven't developed the dexterity to do a good job. People with arthritis or have hand problems can benefit from the larger handle of a mechanical brush.

What's the best toothpaste? For the most part it doesn't matter. The brush and the floss are doing the work. The paste is just fluoride and flavoring. Now if you can tolerate some of the toothpastes with triclosan I think that helps. Some patients though are sensitive to the ingredients they put in toothpaste. If you are sensitive, avoid the toothpastes with whitening agents, tricolsan, tarter control, and other ingredients.