Brushing Your Teeth Before vs After Breakfast

Brushing your teeth is the foundation of a great at-home preventative oral care that can help you reduce your risks of cavities, plaque, gum disease, and other dental health issues.

But even though this is a daily habit most people don’t think a lot about, there are some misconceptions about it, especially regarding when you should be doing it.

Case in point: brushing before, or after breakfast.

Which one’s better?

What Most People Think

Most people will likely say it makes more sense to brush your teeth after you’ve had breakfast. In fact, you probably heard the phrase “brush your teeth after every meal”, so of course, brushing should come after the morning nourishment.

After all, brushing your teeth helps remove food particles from your mouth, which protects your teeth from harmful bacteria.

However, if you brush your teeth after breakfast, you may want to change your morning routine just a bit.

The Importance of Brushing Your Teeth Before Breakfast

While you sleep, the bacteria in your mouth multiply and lead to the all too common “morning breath” most people experience.

The reason you should brush your teeth before breakfast is to remove this bacteria from your mouth and cover the tooth enamel with a protective layer, courtesy of fluoride toothpaste. This layer protects your teeth from acidic foods in particular, which are very common in most breakfast meals such as toast, oranges, and even coffee.

Brushing in the morning also helps you produce more saliva, which is very important to cleansing the mouth and removing additional debris.

What Happens If You Continue to Brush After Breakfast?

Routines can be difficult to change all at once, and you can still brush your teeth after breakfast with a little extra care.

For example, you should brush your teeth around 30 minutes after eating anything acidic, both in the morning or even during the day. By brushing right after eating something acidic, you can actually spread any remaining acidic particles across your teeth, which over time can weaken your enamel.

If you want to cleanse the mouth before, you can rinse the mouth with a fluoride mouthwash, and even chew some sugar-free gum, which can help flush out some of the more noticeable food particles in your mouth. Then, you can safely brush your teeth once the 30 minutes pass.

Remember, at-Home Oral Care Is Only Part of the Solution

No matter when you brush your teeth and how good your technique is, it’s still important to schedule routine dentist appointments to make sure everything is in order.

Your Margate dentist can assess your current dental health and help you stay on top of oral health needs swiftly, to make sure your smile is happy and healthy!

Ready to get started? Book a consultation at Lifestyle Dental Care online, or call us at (954) 669-1313.