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The Dental Hygiene Debate: Should You Brush Your Teeth before or after Breakfast?

The Dental Hygiene Debate: Should You Brush Your Teeth before or after Breakfast?

February 1, 2023

The American Dental Association recommends that you Brush your teeth twice daily, devoting two minutes to the task every time. However, the guidelines don’t recommend when you can brush your teeth. When establishing regular brushing practices, people generally Brush every day. Brushing in the morning and at night seems standard for most people. The simple schedule helps establish brushing as a routine.

What happens if you Brush your teeth at an inappropriate time in your morning routine? Some experts contend brushing before eating breakfast is beneficial to tooth enamel and overall dental health. While people refrain from drinking orange juice until the taste of fluoride subsides in their mouth, it might be helpful for your teeth to do just that.

This article examines why brushing your teeth soon after waking up instead of after eating breakfast is beneficial for your teeth.

Should You Brush Your Teeth Before Breakfast?

There are scientific reasons for brushing your teeth before breakfast. When sleeping, your mouth bacteria causing plaque buildup multiply. It is a reason for the morning breath you experience besides a mossy taste when waking up.

Brushing your teeth before breakfast ensures that fluoride toothpaste eliminates the plaque on your teeth. It also provides a protective barrier against acids in your food by coating your tooth enamel. After eating, you must ensure you Brush your teeth after 30 minutes, especially if you consume acidic foods. The foods you consume during breakfast include toast, citrus, and coffee are full of acids. When you brush your teeth immediately after waking up first thing in the morning, you also encourage saliva production, which helps break down food particles and naturally eliminates harmful mouth bacteria.

Should You Brush Your Teeth after Breakfast?

The dentist in Plano, TX, suggests it works better for your morning routine if you Brush after breakfast, warning against some information you must consider.

Brushing your teeth after eating breakfast, in reality, covers your teeth with the remnants of acidic foods to weaken your enamel. Some harmful foods for tooth enamel in breakfast staples include orange juice, citrus fruits, dried fruits, bread, and pastries. Therefore brushing after breakfast will not provide benefits to your teeth. If you want to protect your teeth without damaging your tooth enamel, you must wait for at least 30 minutes before brushing after eating breakfast.

The American Dental Association suggests waiting 60 minutes after breakfast before brushing, especially if you have acidic foods. Instead, they recommend drinking water or chewing sugar-free gum to clean your teeth before brushing.

How to Indulge in Brushing?

Using proper techniques is essential when brushing your teeth, regardless of whether you use an electric or manual toothbrush. The steps you must follow are mentioned below for your benefit.

Wet the toothbrush head with water for lubrication and add a pea-sized brain of fluoride toothpaste.

Brush your teeth at an angle pointing to reach the challenging corners of your mouth. Brushing for at least two minutes is recommended to ensure your front teeth, the sides, and the chewing surfaces of your teeth are clean.

You must also Brush the bacterial residue on your tongue that accumulates during the brushing and spit out any excess toothpaste.

You must also ensure you get six monthly teeth cleaning in Plano, TX, to effectively remove constantly developing dental plaque on your teeth and hardening into tartar. Not getting dental cleanings makes you susceptible to periodontal disease that requires intensive treatments besides more frequent visits to dentists to receive therapies like scaling and root planing. Instead of inviting an unwanted complication in your mouth, you find it beneficial to visit the Plano dentist for cleanings every six months to ensure optimal dental health.

So, What’s the Verdict

Brushing your teeth immediately after waking up in the morning is a better solution if you want to protect your tooth enamel than brushing after eating breakfast. If you think you must brush your teeth after breakfast, you must wait for 30 to 60 minutes before indulging in the activity.

Brushing your teeth in the morning whenever possible is better than skipping the habit because it causes more harm than good to your dental health. Therefore if you cannot wait for 30 to 60 minutes to brush after breakfast but have brushed before, we suggest skipping brushing after breakfast to protect your tooth enamel.

Tru Plano Dental recommends brushing immediately after waking up instead of doing so after breakfast. Consult the practice for more information on this subject if you need clarification on it.

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