Brushing your teeth

[DossarLX ODI]

Do you brush your teeth before or after breakfast? I find that a lot of students on my floor, if not all, tend to brush their teeth before eating breakfast -- and then they eat shortly after.

I myself brush my teeth after eating breakfast, not before. What about you guys?

[Hakulyte]

Before and after here. I don't eat breakfast exactly at the same time everyday so, it's just in case I skip it or delay it too much etc. Even if I eat right after I will probably still do it before. Just habits I guess.

[NoPrivacy]

After, just makes sense Lol.

[Reach]

Brush after.

Ideally you wait at least thirty minutes if you had anything acidic to eat, or at least rinse with water first.

Brushing before breakfast is pretty pointless and a one way ticket to cavity city, unless you don't brush before bed (in which case, you have even more problems >_> )


(future dentist btw)

[justin_ator]

Never.


On a more serious note, I'd do it after unless I knew I wouldn't be able to get back and brush after. I've spent the better part of the last 17 years of my life forgetting to brush my teeth (bad habits oops) and I've never had cavities or teeth issues still though (lots of calcium? It must be genetic cause all things considered with what I eat and stuff my teeth should be gone).

[dAnceguy117]

I've always brushed after, just to avoid a bad taste combination while eating.

how friggin' cool is it to have input from a dentist ITT? thanks Reach!

[DossarLX ODI]

I never really understood why some people would brush their teeth before breakfast. Brushing after helps get rid of some of the crap that's on your teeth when you eat breakfast. Probably just an old habit.

[NekoGon]

Before breakfast since my whole life.. but now that Reach has spoken i -may- change my habit, lol

[samurai7694]

Originally Posted by NekoGon

Before breakfast since my whole life.. but now that Reach has spoken i -may- change my habit, lol

this

[Reach]

Think about it this way.

The bacteria that form cavities favor low pH environments and require sugars actively in your mouth to do their business.

So if you have something for breakfast with high acidity content, and don't brush your teeth, it's going to sit there all day. This is the case for most people, since they like to eat cereal. Your saliva will help to bring the pH back up in your mouth, but most people eat throughout the day and will end up keeping that pH pretty low and that can be problematic.

This gives bacteria plenty of time to set up plaque camps, at which point they can start producing lactic acid all over your shit.

So, brushing your teeth after you eat will help to quickly restore pH balance and deny bacteria the substrate necessary for plaque formation until you each lunch. That gives them a much smaller window of action, in which case you shut them down again before you go to bed.

And of course, combine with flossing once a day after your last meal and you'll probably never get cavities. Voila.

[dragonmegaXX]

I came on this site to smash arrows not get a lecture on how bad my oral hygiene is ;-;

[j-rodd123]

after breakfast. brushing before breakfast doesn't make any sense lol

[Ohaider]

I don't eat breakfast.

But toothpaste + orange juice is ****ing gross, so if i do have breakfast, brush after.

[Poison-]

Always after.

[Izzy]

After dinner? I should probably brush more than once per day, but it seems fine so far.

[Poison-]

The better your oral hygiene is, the healthier you tend to be. Just saying.

[Izzy]

Originally Posted by Poison-

The better your oral hygiene is, the healthier you tend to be. Just saying.

What exactly do you mean? Maybe people who have better practices for oral hygiene might be more healthy in general, but correlation does not mean causation.

Brushing my teeth wont make the rest of my body healthier.

[SKG_Scintill]

Before bed, that is all

[justin_ator]

Originally Posted by Izzy

What exactly do you mean? Maybe people who have better practices for oral hygiene might be more healthy in general, but correlation does not mean causation.

Brushing my teeth wont make the rest of my body healthier.

This, and there will always be exceptions to things both ways. For example I spent like five years from 11-16 or so where I didn't brush a single time, and it only improved slightly after that for a year or two when I picked it up again. I've never had a cavity and the only thing the dentist ever said to me is 'you seem to have been missing this spot here or there, make sure you get those areas when brushing' as if I wasn't neglecting my whole mouth.

Yes, I realize how bad that sounds, and like I said, I've gotten better. But my point still stands that it's not set in concrete that you'll get cavities brushing once a day, or even once a week. I know people that have diligently brushed their teeth at least twice a day and have had a few cavities already.

[foilman8805]

Originally Posted by Ohaider

I don't eat breakfast.

But toothpaste + orange juice is ****ing gross, so if i do have breakfast, brush after.

Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to drink a glass of apple juice after brushing your teeth.

Arguably wayyyy worse, in my opinion.