Korean Toothbrushes

So I haven't written since I came to Korea so I'll in a nutshell say it's been amazing. What I want to write about today however isn't an update but more of an observation. For all the technological advancements in S. Korea, I've never seen so many people with cavities in my life. The odd thing however is that people here religiously brush their teeth several times a day. It's not uncommon to see groups of people brushing away in the bathroom or walking down the hallway with a toothbrush. At first I thought there had been a recent push towards brushing due to all the cavities but then I realized that brushing has been part of the culture for some time. So why is it that I'd often have elementary school students with bad teeth? Today I found the culprit. Not long after I arrived back in January, I had to buy a toothbrush. The first thing I noticed is that there is only one style you can buy here: Soft. I have never liked soft but after trying Korean soft, my latter opinion was cemented. I always felt like my teeth were still dirty after brushing. So much so that after only a few months here I went to the dentist for a cleaning. Interestingly enough, while the cleaning helped, my teeth still did not feel as clean as they should. I finally found a medium toothbrush but it wasn't the texture I was used to and I started to worry about getting cavities. A few weeks ago I asked my mom to send me a toothbrush from home. I just used it for the first time today and my teeth have never felt cleaner. And this is where I had the lightbulb moment. I think the reason why the cavity rate is so high is because of the type of toothbrushes that are sold here. I'm not a dentist by any means but I think someone should look into the correlation.