Wait a half hour before brushing your teeth?

[Senegoid]

I’m guessing here that this might be more of a GQ question than an IMHO question. I’m not specifically asking for personal health advice for myself here.

I just saw this article: Eek! Why it Might Be Time to Step Away from the Kale, Lauren Le Vine, REDBOOK, January 16, 2013, as re-published on Yahoo.

The gist of the article is that too much cruciferous veggies might not be so good for you after all. Tangentially, it mentions that too much fruit juice will rot your teeth, from way too much sugar.

But then there was this remark:

As for the cavities, Berman’s dentist said to always wait half an hour after eating or drinking anything before brushing her teeth. Also, there’s no need to brush more than two times a day. If you really want to spare your choppers, eat fruits and vegetables in solid form. The natural sugars in juices can lead to decay, and the acid can erode enamel. In conclusion, there’s no need to turn your back on kale just yet.

Why does it matter (indeed, why is it better ) to wait half an hour after eating or drinking before brushing your teeth? That’s one I haven’t heard before. And do fruit juices have much more sugar and acid that the fruit they’re made from, that they should rot your teeth worse?

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

I Googled the question and came up with this explanation: (bold mine)

The cycle of eating and brushing can get tricky if you don’t need to wait to eat after you brush, and then you brush after you eat – over and over again during the day. If you eat sugary or acidic foods or drinks, the enamel on your teeth will be softened. Therefore, brushing right after you eat may not be wise. Dr. Rolfe explains that if you just had an acidic or sugary snack, you should gargle with a fluoride mouthwash and not brush your teeth. **The damaging food or drink will soften the teeth surface, so if you brush right away, you will actually abrade a lot of tooth structure in the process. **Dr. Rolfe recommends rinsing with water after eating, but wait for about 20 minutes before brushing.

From: http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/oral-care/products/wait-to-eat-after-brushing-teeth1.htm

[johnpost]

i asked at a dental checkup about when to brush. i was told that plaque starts being formed at about after 20 minutes.

[AaronX]

Do teeth have recovery mechanisms? They’d have to be doing something to make waiting better, right?

[Toxylon]

I don’t think teeth have any particular recovery mechanisms - it’s just that the pH in the mouth will return to normal from the acidic state with sufficient saliva production, re-hardening the enamel.

[njtt]

@AaronX

Do teeth have recovery mechanisms? They’d have to be doing something to make waiting better, right?

Yes, I believe that after tooth enamel has lost calcium due to acid etc. in food it subsequently becomes re-mineralized, absorbing calcium from the saliva, which has quite a high concentration of calcium salts. This depends on saliva being slightly alkaline, which it is naturally, once any acids either in foods themselves or produced from sugars in teh mouth after eating, have been dissipated (or swallowed).

[njtt]

Incidentally, I suspect that the advice to wait half an hour before brushing is not really very good advice, or, rather is likely to be a case of the perfect becoming the enemy of the good. A lot of people who take the advice to wait to brush are probably, often, in practice, going to then forget to brush altogether.

[gracer]

@njtt

Incidentally, I suspect that the advice to wait half an hour before brushing is not really very good advice, or, rather is likely to be a case of the perfect becoming the enemy of the good. A lot of people who take the advice to wait to brush are probably, often, in practice, going to then forget to brush altogether.

Actually I asked my friend who is a dentist this, because when I worked in a children’s home this was very difficult: you have a schedule for when 50 children brush their teeth and if everyone eats an orange and then needs to wait half an hour it’s chaos.

Her response was that if it’s between not brushing or brushing right after eating an orange she would pick not brushing! That’s how much it damages teeth.

Being a dentist, that pick was very, very hesitant and hedged in lots of brushing promotion. On her advice we actually ended up putting some toothpaste in the mouth and swilling with water, and then hopefully managing to get 50 children to brush later on.

[Wesley_Clark]

@AaronX

Do teeth have recovery mechanisms? They’d have to be doing something to make waiting better, right?

Enamel can remineralize and dentin can regenerate. That is my impression.

When ph gets below 5.5 teeth start to demineralize. I was told by a dentist that if I drink or eat something acidic to rinse my mouth with tap water to get my oral ph back up.

[biqu]

@gracer

Her response was that if it’s between not brushing or brushing right after eating an orange she would pick not brushing! That’s how much it damages teeth.

What about using dental floss immediately after eating? I’m guessing the abrasion wouldn’t be as harmful as even a soft-bristled brush. Certainly the dislodging of residual food particles might aid the restoration of normal pH levels, so that brushing twenty minutes afterward can be considered safe.