I have to know. Why does orange juice taste nearly like poison immediately after you brush your teeth? (I hope its not just me)
Granted it doesnt usually last very long, but yuck.
I don’t know why, but Coke sure does taste like tin when drinking it while eating french toast with maple syrup. Man that was an uncomfortable taste.
Jeremy…
I can think of no more stirring symbol of man’s humanity to man than a fire engine - Kurt Vonnegut
I always brush my teeth in the morning before I have my juice and coffee, and it doesn’t seem to affect the taste of either. Maybe try a different toothpaste?
I think it’s a sugar saturation thing. Taste something really sweet like maple syrup or toothpaste (ironic how sweet toothpaste is, huh?) and your sweetness sensor gets overtaxed. Then taste something not quite as sweet and you get its basic flavor without the sweetness. I can’t stand juice with (sweetened) cereal or syrupy pancakes, etc. That’s why God invented milk.
“Finally, consider Kottke’s voice which sounds like geese farts on a muggy day.”
Leo Kottke
6- And 12-String Guitar
I’m allergic to milk. That’s why I uninvented God.
Nietzsche. . .er, I mean. . .Ray
I know that effect. I’m sure it’s not sweetness saturation, though, because I can still have the same experience an hour later if I don’t eat or drink in the meantime. The juice tastes quite bitter, actually, not just ‘unsweet’. Must be some sort of reaction with residue from the toothpaste. Oh, and it’s much less pronounced in, say, apple or grape juice.
It’s amazing, BTW, what kinds of substances can interact in unexpected ways. I recently refilled our liquid soap dispenser with a different brand that apparently didn’t get along with what was left from the previous fill. It took me a while to find the source of that horrible stench every time I washed my hands… I wonder if adding a third brand could have made it explode!
I also remember a particular brand of soap that would make my skin stink because it interacted with my sweat or something. It took me a while to convince my mom to by different soap (I was a kid then).
Makes me wonder how much we really know about chemistry, if product developers can really do all the gazillions of tests that should be done, and what consequences this might have other that an unpleasant smell or taste…
I should add three things:
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It’s the same with all brands of toothpaste I’ve tried, which is many.
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It’s not sweetness saturation because I’ve no trouble eating chocolate or the like and drinking juice with it.
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I hate typos that produce existing but totally inappropriate words and make me look like a moron: buy – by; than – that; …
Try this and see if you get the same results. Suck on a breath mint, and then try to drink that orange juice. Some flavors just don’t combine to form an palatable combination on your tounge.
My theory was that something was going on between the bases in toothpaste and the acids in orange juice. This might not be true, since I don’t know if toothpaste really is alkaline, but some of the ingredients (tin fluoride, sodium fluoride?) sound pretty basic.
Boris, yes that was what i was thinking. but i need specifics(don’t we all) and, whew, glad to hear it’s not just me, i thought maybe i had mutant breath or something, although my bfriend never complained
In all honesty, I think this is the best question I’ve seen on the board in weeks.
I suspect the “Sweetness saturation” idea is the best so far.
Inky
According to two stuffed-shirt scientists at Scientific American’s “The Last Word” it’s either the detergent in the toothpaste or the acid-base reaction of the OJ’s citric acid and the toothpaste’s sodium monofluorophosphate.
Uh, anyone of you ever thought of brushing after you’ve had your juice and breakfast, as four out of five dentists recommend? 
LOL thanks for the tip, omni. and actually that is usually what i do since discovering this phenomenon so many years ago. what made me recently think of it was grabbing a bottle of o.j. on the way to work… and thanks for the site alpha… 
Yeah, but you’re supposed to wait at least half an hour after drinking fruit juice (or eating fruit, for that matter) before you brush your teeth. The acids weaken the coating of your teeth (removing the calcium or something), especially at the base, and brushing too early could do some damage.
Here’s a thought: I’m pretty sure that when you brush w/ toothpaste, you dissolve or wash away the slippery film in your mouth. I’m not sure if there is a technical term for this film, but I know it’s there and it’s the absence of this that can cause recurrent aphthous ulcers (canker sores).
Anyways, the absence of this film could make you hypersensitive to something that’s in OJ (acid). By the way, I experience this too.
Again, just a thought. The most probable cause is residue from the toothpaste mixing w/ the OJ, simply causing a nasty taste. The next probable cause would be the taste buds reacting with the toothpaste in such a way that they can’t taste OJ normally until they recover.
The “sweetness saturation” idea I think is a prime example of a hypothesis on this message board. Pluto, were you trying to be funny?
I don’t think that there’s any scientific explanation, except maybe this simple formula:
Toothpaste + orange juice = tastes like shit.
It’s kind of like asking, “Why does it taste bad when I put beer on my cornflakes instead of milk?”
Beer + cornflakes = tastes like shit.
The list of formulas goes on . . .
Do you guys realize this thread is over three years old?
When addressing old threads you can always start a new with a link to the old thread. That way you show that you know it has been discussed but want to reopen the discussion with a new point of view or question.
I may be totally wrong and out of line but I think that is what the Mods like.
BTW, I hate the OJ taste after brushing my teeth too.
You mean they recover? In half an hour?
Someone please tell me how i replied to a 3.5 year post??? I saw it on the first page of the general questions!? That’s weird.