How often you should brush your teeth, according to science

For many of us, brushing our teeth each morning and night is an innate part of our daily routines.

This habit has now been questioned, after it was claimed it may be better to clean your teeth well once daily than do a poor job twice a day.

But the dental expert quoted in the BBC article, Dr Praveen Sharma, an associate professor at the University of Birmingham, said he had been misinterpreted.

He had meant that people should clean their teeth extra-thoroughly once a day, as well as doing a regular two-minute clean for the second brush of the day, he told The i Paper . “For most patients, I expect them to brush twice a day, and once a day [do] a very thorough cleaning, which will take a little bit longer,” he said.

Other dental experts said that twice-daily brushing is essentia