Brushing After Eating Can Cause Your Teeth To Erode

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Brushing teeth is a habit that must be instilled in every individual from childhood. To maintain oral hygiene, people are advised to brush their teeth at least twice a day for two minutes using fluoride toothpaste.

But do you know when NOT to brush your teeth?

Recently a Malaysian dentist called Dr Natasha shared that one should not brush teeth after doing certain things.

According to her, teeth should not be brushed in the following three situations:

1. After breakfast
2. After eating sweet food
3. After vomiting

After watching the video, some raised a few questions regarding the matter.

When asked how long to wait after doing those things to brush your teeth, Dr Natasha suggested waiting at least 30 minutes.

Dr Natasha said teeth should not be brushed in all three situations because the mouth is in an acidic state. This causes the teeth to easily erode and can become hollow if rubbed.

Acid in the mouth weakens tooth enamel

Pic Credit: Healthline

The pH content in saliva can change due to food and drink taken. The mouth becomes acidic when food is digested by bacteria. For example, carbohydrates will produce lactic acid, butyric acid, and aspartic acid.

The Columbia University website explains that acid in the mouth will weaken the enamel, which is the outer layer of the teeth. Therefore, brushing your teeth in this condition will cause the enamel to be easily damaged.

On the other hand, a time gap of 30 minutes is important for the minerals on the enamel to be restored (remineralized).

After eating or drinking, dentists recommend gargling or drinking boiled water that will help in the enamel restoration process.

Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine assistant professor of dental medicine Ezzard Rolle said teeth should also not be brushed immediately after consuming acidic foods such as fruit juice and carbonated drinks.

Vomiting Brings Up Stomach Acid

Pic Credit: Healthline

The mouth will also become acidic after a person vomits. This is because vomiting will bring acid from the stomach, namely gastric acid, out of the mouth.

This stomach acid will splash on the teeth. As it digests food in the stomach, it does the same to the teeth.

As explained above, brushing your teeth in acidic conditions will cause damage. Instead, it is recommended to gargle with water with a little baking soda added to neutralize the acid.

Brushing your teeth immediately after vomiting also causes the acid to spread throughout the mouth, causing more tooth enamel to be eroded by the acid.

As additional info, those who have acid reflux problems will experience permanent enamel erosion on their teeth.

Permanently Damaged Teeth Due to Acid Erosion

Pic For Illustration Purposes Only

The dental care brand, Colgate, recommends brushing your teeth before eating acidic foods and drinking plain water afterwards to wash away the acid produced.

In addition, people are also advised to eat foods low in carbohydrates and sugar so that the acid in the mouth can be reduced.

Consumption of carbonated drinks should also be reduced because they contain phosphoric acid that can erode the hard tissue (enamel, dentin, and cementum) on the surface of the teeth. Acid erosion will cause permanent damage to the teeth.

Keep brushing your teeth after waking up

In the morning, the average person will usually brush their teeth before breakfast. This is important to clean the bacteria that multiply in the mouth while sleeping. This bacteria will cause plaque and make your breath smelly after waking up.

In addition to removing plaque and bacteria, brushing your teeth in the morning with fluoride also creates protection for the enamel against acids in food.

Brushing your teeth can initiate the production of saliva which is important for digestion, neutralizing harmful acids, and killing bacteria in the mouth.

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