I use an electric toothbrush (Oral-B is very good), floss, a CBC mouthwash, and a tongue scraper. Sometimes I’ll floss after meals as well. I’ve read that brushing immediately after a meal is not good.

Since I’ve been sanitizing my brush head in hydrogen peroxide after each use to avoid re-introducing bacteria into my mouth it’s made a significant difference in the quality of my brushing and minimizing plaque formation. Also, the main area to aim for specifically for plaque is where the gum meets the tooth rather than just all over the tooth hitting the gum incidentally.

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The plaque forms as a result of bacteria eating the sugars that stay on your teeth. Most dentists in my life have recommended brushing right after eating.

Waterpicks for me have been amazing! I got one for like 30 USD and I use it once or twice a week. It makes my teeth feel so much cleaner and I feel like they stay cleaner too. It also gets stuff stuck between your teeth instantly without having to do weird flossing gymnastics. I’ve always sucked at flossing but with the waterpick I actually use it regularly.

I spent several years intermittent fasting, only eating between 6pm and 10pm. I didn’t do it for my teeth but it did help keep them much cleaner, probably obvious in retrospect. It’s not a healthy diet in a lot of other ways though.

Have you tried changing your brushing technique? From my time working in a dentist’s office as an assistant, its usually the brushing technique that most people get wrong. You’re supposed to focus on where the teeth and gums meet.

https://youtu.be/rqAdceHE5CI?si=X7xQdoaV9llNUn4P

I recommend the first 2 from the link above. They’re the most similar to how most people already brush their teeth so its an easy transition. The only real difference is you angle your toothbrush 45° away from the surface of your teeth. Doesn’t matter if you angle it up or down.

Don’t eat sugar

As others have somewhat suggested maybe try some diet modifications. I also recommend going to the dentist and seeing what they have to say, everyone has different things impacting mouth health and a dentist will know how to help you the most.

I maintain very good dental hygiene, and my dental hygienist always loves me. These are the tips I’ve picked up from them as I’ve gone

• Use an electric toothbrush. My hygienist didn’t give a recommendation, but I asked what she used and said the Philips Sonicare and really liked it. I got one for $25 on a black friday sale (normally $50 for the model I got). I’m sure plenty would work, but one that also tells you when you’re pressing too hard is a very nice perk, and the timer is a must.
• Floss every day with normal string floss. Honestly, quickly disrupting the bacteria between your teeth is good most days, and then give it a really good go other days to really break things up.
• Never brush with a low pH level in your mouth. Eating anything increases the acidity in your mouth, so wait about 30 minutes before brushing. Some things increase it much more, such as soda. Wait an hour or so after drinking soda or other acidic foods/drinks before brushing. Drinking water can help normalize the pH levels faster, as well. So if you must, just swish around some water a good bit before brushing.
• Saliva is good for you. If you drink a lot of soda or eat a lot of sugary foods, stop it. But since you probably won’t stop (like me) chew sugar free gum to increase saliva production to help fight the sugary-ness of it, as well as help balance the pH levels a little.
• Use alcohol free anti-cavity mouth wash. It’s basically just water and fluoride, so if fluoride toothpaste doesn’t hurt your mouth, you should be okay with this mouthwash.
• Make sure you’re using fluoride toothpaste. It doesn’t need to be fancy, I just use the cheapest fluoride toothpaste.
• Do not rinse out the toothpaste in your mouth after brushing. You want the fluoride to stay on your teeth for as long as possible. And if you do end up using flouride mouthwash, do not drink anything for at least half an hour after using it to make sure the flouride has time to work. The longer it’s on your teeth, the better.
• Brush AT LEAST every night. Of course they always recommend twice a day, but if you picked one, do it before bed and not in the morning. If you don’t brush before bed, the bacteria from the day will sit on your teeth all night going to work on you. I only brush at night, but the hygienists I have always say they wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t told them. And that’s even with habitual soda drinking habits.
• Accept the fact you will get tartar build up. It’s going to happen, despite your best efforts. That’s why you should go to the dentist every 6 months. They will remove the tartar build up with a metal pick, but if you do everything above, it should be an easy job for them.

Get a good toothpaste, brush twice a day, change my toothbrush once a month (whether it’s electronic never changed my success rate), and go to the dentist twice a year. My dentist says I have model teeth.

Arm and hammer toothpaste with baking soda is great. Clinical studies have proven a statistically greater reduction in plaque than toothpaste that does not contain baking soda.

Electric brushes usually help with that. Do go for a brand like Braun or Philips though, otherwise it’s easy to end up with a toothbrush with non-existent or low-quality replacement heads. You don’t need an expensive model from those brands. Those work about as well as the cheaper models and only include more frills, and their replacement heads are often more expensive too. The only feature I actually find helpful is the 30-second/2-minute timer which most models have nowadays.

Electric toothbrush, don’t want to shill for a brand but Oral-B.

I asked my dentist this, and she just said that I have fast plaque buildup and there’s not much I can do about it other than getting my teeth cleaned once a year

Could probably drink less coffee though