Six-hundred years ago, the Emperor of China embedded hog bristles in a bone handle and used his invention to clean his teeth. One drawback? Hog bristles were expensive and the whole family had to use the same toothbrush. Boy, have times changed.

Now the average supermarket shelf has endless choices -- from an array of brushes (manual, electric, large, small, those with contorted handles), to special flosses, electric flossers, mouthwashes, dentifrices (toothpaste to you), and every squirter, whitening tray, mouthguard, and weird appliance imaginable. It looks like a road company of The Marathon Man in there!

So what's hip and what's hype?

Toothbrushes

"The best toothbrush is the one that works best for you," says Kimberly A. Harms, DDS, a consumer spokeswoman for the American Dental Association (ADA) and dentist in private practice in Farmington, Minn. "Dentists, however, recommend everyone use a soft toothbrush, fluoridated toothpaste, and floss. This is enough."

Many dentists recommend a soft toothbrush. "Hard ones can wear away your enamel," Harms warns, but notes that patients do sometimes tell her they feel they are getting their teeth cleaner with a harder toothbrush.

As for all those newfangled bristle angles, Gordon L. Douglass, DDS, a Sacramento, Calif., periodontologist, says most toothbrushes now have longer bristles at the end for reaching back teeth. He recommends you select the right size toothbrush head for your mouth -- if it's too tightly stuck in there, you can't get to the back teeth effectively. "Medium sized is best," he says.

Some toothbrushes have a detection area that changes color when the toothbrush needs to be replaced. "You could just look at the brush," Harms ventures. "If the bristles are bent or curled, it's time for a new one. Usually every three months or less is best." Douglass says, "If your brush is curled, you're brushing too hard."

Speaking of brushing, if you're of a certain age, you probably aren't brushing incorrectly. Remember how your mother told you to brush "up and down?" "We used to think stimulating the gums by brushing them was good," Douglass says. "Now scientific studies show you should place the brush where the tooth and gum come together and then use a back and forth or rotary motion over the tooth itself. Yes -- back and forth!

As for those toothbrushes -- electric or manual -- that come with cartoon characters on them, if they make you remember to brush or increase the time spent waggling the brush around in there, Harms is all for them; kids like them, too! The same goes for those brushes with large, chunky handles. Kids and people with arthritis find them easy to hold.

Toothpaste

"We haven't wiped out decay yet," says Harms, "so we recommend a fluoridated toothpaste (even in cities with fluoridated water). Even older adults, who might have worn surfaces, can get cavities." Over time, she explains, fluoride soaks in and strengthens teeth, even though it may be slathered on the tooth surface for only a minute or two at a time.

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