Vomiting is understood to damage teeth. But how bad is the damage if I brush my teeth within a few minutes after vomiting? Is the vast majority of the damage done within a few seconds/minutes (before I could conceivably brush), or does it happen only when the mouth is allowed to remain highly acidic for a much longer period?
I’m by no means an expert. But I think that method is the worst. The acid will temporarily weaken your teeth. If you brush immediately after while the pulp is in the weakened state, you will scrub away and erode your precious enamel. I think it would be best to immediately rinse with a restoring mouthwash and then brush a few hours later.
Dentist here. Willcross is correct. Do not brush right away. Rinse your mouth out. A fluoride mouth rinse such as Act or some baking soda is great but plain water will work fine.
Do you vomit enough that damaging your teeth is a concern?
It’s probably been 16 years since the last time I barfed. I recall blowing out a blood vessel in my eye, which left me with a scary red eye for a few days. I was more concerned with damage to the eye and didn’t even think of the teeth.
Yep, rinse your mouth out. A couple of spoonfuls of baking soda in water is good for that. Also, gargling with that and spitting it out, and swallowing some of it will help remove that acidic taste/feling in your throat & stomach.
Not a doctor or dentist, but I think this would only be an issue if you had a chronic illness which caused unusually frequent and regular vomiting…
It is common for chronic bulimics to damage their teeth in this way.
Yes.