My dentist stated not to rinse after brushing with my fluoride toothpaste.
I’m 65 and still have a decent set of teeth (no dentures.)
I read a novel 40 years ago (no idea what novel it was) that describes a bulimic woman who routinely used the handle of her toothbrush to induce vomiting, then flipped the tool 180 degrees to brush afterwards.
Every so often I’ll recall this while brushing. I actually have to pause, take a breath, and regroup before continuing my tooth brushing. If I could live my life over, I’d omit that novel from my reading list.
I’m intrigued by this no-rinse theory. Doesn’t brushing dislodge food particles? If so, why would you want those lying around in your mouth? Is the assumption that you’ll swallow them the next time you drink something?
And does this still hold true for people who don’t use fluoride toothpaste? ((Yes, yes, I use toothpaste with fluoride.)
We have well water. When my kids were small I bought fluoridated bottled water for them to rinse with til a dentist told me to have them brush and not rinse afterwards. Especially at night. Don’t forget to floss. I am a big flosser. I have teeth that catch bits of stuff. I use
floss picks.
[quote=“friedo, post:10, topic:823798”]
It’s been well-established for some time that rinsing is unnecessary and often detrimental. Leaving some toothpaste residue on your teeth allows the fluoride to work better.
Here’s a
However, keep in mind that the UK does not have as much water fluoridation as the US.
I brush after breakfast, no rinsing, and just before bed.
Why is it not advised to brush straight after a meal? Personally, I can’t eat a thing for about an hour after brushing as the mintiness tarnishes every flavour.
It seems logical to brush after a meal to get the crap out of your mouth before it starts damaging your teeth.
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I drink a protein shake for breakfast every day, normally in the car on the way to work, which doesn’t stay in contact with my teeth for long. That being the case, I brush before breakfast, I guess.
The routine goes: brush teeth, brush palate and tongue briefly, water rinse, mouthwash (Listerine) swish and gargle. Just in the morning, I don’t bother at night. I have floss, picks, and mini-brushes in my desk at work for after-lunch (or whenever needed) care.
You still spit. Almost all of those food particles will go out with the toothpaste saliva froth you spit out.
And you swallow all the time, not just when you drink something. Saliva production is much lower when you’re not in the process of eating, but unless you suffer from dry mouth you are constantly producing more and swallowing it from time to time.
That said, I rinse once after brushing my teeth. I doubt it makes a big enough difference to matter.
I rarely eat right after brushing—Brush, flush eyes with water, then Triple-S. I rarely eat until after I arrive at work. If i do have sometime it begins with water, tea, or coffee, and the toothpaste flavor doesn’t last long anyway. I no longer have anything as sweet as orange juice anyway.
Right after you eat is when your tooth enamel is weakest, because of the acids and other chemicals created by the interaction of food and saliva.
If you brush right then you’re essentially scraping away at the weakened enamel with fluoride, which is the last thing you want to do.
That’s what the rinsing accomplishes.
I remember as a kid, a dental hygienist came to our school to teach us good dental care and they definitely told us to rinse after brushing. The reason, they said, is that most toothpaste contains some sugar and you don’t want to leave that sitting on your teeth. It’s never crossed my mind not to rinse, but I’ll give it a try. Either that hygienist was wrong or, more likely, toothpaste has changed since the 1970s.
I brush twice a day: shortly after I wake up in the morning, and before I go to bed at night.
I don’t eat breakfast, and it’s likely to be 3-4 hours after I brush my teeth that I eat anything, or drink anything besides coffee, so first thing makes sense.
I rinse after brushing, and I’ve lost track of how many years it’s been since I’ve had so much as a cavity. Since that’s been working, no reason to change.
I floss after brushing when* I floss, because if there’s gunk in my mouth, why would I want to possibly get that gunk into the crease between tooth and gum?
*One of my teeth is an implant, and I floss around that sucker every time I brush. But I only floss the rest of my mouth once every 2-3 weeks maybe. I don’t know that anyone’s ever shown that your gums will be a lot healthier if you floss daily rather than, say, weekly or monthly. Sure, there’s no harm in it if you feel like doing it that frequently, but if you don’t, is it really that big a deal?
I’m under the impression that toothpaste is essentially optional. The only benefit it provides is a pleasing flavor. The brushing is the important part. Presuming you get fluoride some other way, such as the local water supply or a fluoride rinse. Otherwise, toothpaste provides fluoride. In which case, rinsing afterwards is counterproductive.
Regards to sugar in toothpaste, the master speaks.
Toothpaste also provides abrasives, which help clean, and detergents, which help clean much like washing with soap helps clean better than water alone. There are other ingredients than fluoride in some toothpastes that there is evidence is useful for oral health, such as triclosan:
I always brush first thing in the morning. Maybe second if I really need to piss.
Then right before I go to bed.
Nothing fancy, maybe floss once a week or after a stringy meal or popcorn.
Gargle mouthwash only on special occasions.
My teeth are flossed twice a year, assuming I make both dental appointments.
Brush my teeth first thing in the morning. Take symbicort, rinse mouth with water because failure to rinse after asthma medicines such as this can lead to thrush. Eat breakfast about an hour, hour and a half later. Use gum rinse (prescribed) after lunch along with floss or picks if lunch insists on hanging out for an afternoon performance. After work, repeat the asthma meds routine. Brush my teeth again before going to bed and after I take my night time medicine.
Toothpaste has changed, they now use artificial sweeteners.
Same here, and the dentist always compliments my teeth.
Huh. Would it make sense to eat, then wait, say, half an hour, then brush your teeth?
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One of my clients was a toothcare products manufacturer; the idea of putting sugar in toothpaste would have made heads explode in that company. The formulations of pastes and washes were >95% the same from one to another, with that <5% due to opaque vs translucid paste, plus texture, plus coloring, plus taste. Taste was pretty much a matter of choosing the correct esters: sugar and sweeteners didn’t even enter the warehouse.