A dentist has issued a warning about three common teeth brushing mistakes you could make in the morning that could ruin your teeth – and told you what to do instead.
A dentist has issued a warning about some morning habits that could be ruining your oral health.
Many of us start the day with coffee and breakfast, but did you know that brushing your teeth afterwards could do more harm than good? Dr Shaadi Manouchehri, who runs Smart Dental and Aesthetics in London, dropped the bombshell on Instagram, leaving her 61.5k followers stunned.
“Never brush your teeth after having a coffee,” he stressed on his account @dr.shaadi.manouchehri. “Coffee is quite acidic… if you go and brush your teeth right away, you’re rubbing the acid on the tooth and wearing down the tooth… (And) don’t brush your teeth after breakfast, brush them before.
“Because if you brush right away you’re going to be damaging your enamel.”
Our teeth are made up of minerals such as enamel, dentin and root cementum, and when we wake up in the morning, they are covered in bacteria that must be removed before starting the day, even before having breakfast. If you skip this step, you’ll let your breakfast pile up on top of what you’ve accumulated overnight, Dr. Manouchehri explained.
This unpleasant mixture, along with the acidity of the coffee, is the main cause of enamel wear.
As the enamel wears away, it can reveal the dentin underneath, which can leave your teeth looking yellow. Speaking specifically about coffee, Dr. Manouchehri continued, “Wait at least 30 to 60 minutes; you don’t actually need to brush your teeth, just rinse with a mouthwash or drink water.”
Touching on an aside, he added: “Never brush your teeth after you’ve vomited (either). This is probably all you want to do after you’ve vomited, but in reality the contents of your stomach are extremely acidic and your teeth are made up of minerals.
“So by the time the contents of the stomach have reached the mouth, then the mouth is very acidic. And if you brush your teeth immediately, you are rubbing the acid even more onto the tooth. So wait at least 30 to 60 minutes.” . before brushing your teeth.
“What you can do is rinse your mouth with some mouthwash and drink some water to help neutralize the acid faster.”
Dr. Manouchehri’s thoughts come after a shocking 2022 survey by Hive Business revealed that a staggering 39% of people aged 25 to 34 brush their teeth less than once a week. Furthermore, 36% of people between 35 and 44 years old confessed that they had never used mouthwash in their entire lives.
Unsurprisingly, her video left viewers completely baffled, prompting a flood of comments on her advice-filled clip. One viewer wrote: “Have I always brushed my teeth after breakfast before leaving the house with breakfast Minty? No thanks.”
Another added: “I never brush my teeth,” while someone else chimed in: “I feel so validated for always brushing before breakfast!”
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