Why is it better to brush your teeth before breakfast rather than after? And why do we need to brush our teeth in the morning if we brushed them at night and didn’t eat anything in between?
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It’s actually debatable about when is best to brush your teeth throughout the day, but twice a day is considered ideal.
If you choose to brush your teeth after a meal, you should wait at least 30 minutes, to give your mouth time to naturally clean your teeth off.
Why?
Because, all foods have sugar, some are acidic, some foods are harder and rough, and all that brushing right after a meal is doing is taking all of that stuff that can scratch and damage your teeth, and spreading it around. Lets take sugar. It’s a sharp crystal that can damage teeth. Imagine that it’s sand and your teeth are glass. If you rub that sand around the glass, it will scratch it. Teeth can repair this damage over time, but those scratches can lead to all sorts of things getting stuck in. Acids can also make the teeth softer, which means that if you’re brushing softer teeth, you’re doing some damage.
On the other side, some dentists believe that brushing before you eat is better. But here’s two catches. One: You can not eat anything for at least 30 minutes after brushing. and Two: You should not be rinsing your mouth out, just spit out the paste and swallow whatever is left.
Why?
Because the fluoride in toothpaste takes time to bind to teeth. If you just rinse your mouth out, it washes away the fluoride without giving it time to bind. The fluoride in the toothpaste creates a protective barrier over and around your teeth, preventing damage from sugars, acids, and other things.
So why brush if you don’t eat anything?
Have you ever experienced morning breath? This occurs because when you are sleeping, plaque-causing bacteria in your mouth multiply and leave an unpleasant taste and odor for you to encounter when you wake up. Brushing your teeth right away when you wake up helps to rid your teeth of this harmful plaque and bacteria.
Now there are some dentists that say it’s best to chew gum before flossing and brushing your teeth. The gum does two things: it activates your salivary glands, cleaning off your teeth naturally, and it can pick out particles that might damage teeth.
If you want the cleanest teeth, do not rinse your mouth out after brushing (it actually specifies on almost all toothpaste labels that only children 2-6 should rinse). Spit out the excess and the amount of fluoride you swallow after is harmless and it will keep your teeth healthier for longer than if you rinse after.
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