Brush DJ, a mobile app designed to encourage youngsters to adopt and maintain an effective oral health care routine using evidence-based techniques, was recently praised in a research study by the British Dental Journal.

Brush DJ is directly aimed at children and adolescents, but everyone can learn from it. The app plays music for two minutes – the optimum time for brushing teeth – taken from a playlist or randomly from the user’s own device or cloud. As well as encouraging tooth brushing for two minutes, it also reminds users to spit out after brushing but not to rinse, sets reminders to brush twice a day, use a mouthwash at other non-brushing times of the day, sets alerts for dental appointments and reminders to change toothbrushes once every three months. Fundamentally, it makes brushing teeth fun for youngsters.

Everyone knows that proper dental hygiene begins with brushing, followed by flossing and nutrition. Unfortunately, most of us in Costa Rica and around the world do not actually follow proper brushing, and this is something that occurs due to bad habits acquired during childhood.

In public schools across Costa Rica, dental education providers are focusing more on teaching children about the optimum time that should be applied when brushing, which is generally accepted as being two minutes.

In the past, many Ticos were taught to brush at least five times a day: once in the morning and once after every meal (breakfast, lunch, afternoon coffee, and dinner), but there was not much emphasis placed on drilling, so to speak, how long these brushing sessions should take. Dental education used to encourage vigorous brushing, which dental professionals at the New Smile Dental Group in Costa Rica do not recommend.

The problem with vigorous brushing five times per day is that it turns into an exercise in wear-and-tear of both teeth and gum tissue. Obsessive overbrushing comes from a social anxiety of bad breath, which can explain the burgeoning industry of sugarless gum and mint candy in Costa Rica. A couple of proper brushing sessions for two minutes is all it takes; a mouthwash rinse can be used after every meal.