An American dental clinic has taken to social media to share three instances when you should avoid brushing your teeth.
Warwick Dental, based in Oklahoma, USA shared an Instagram reel to advise against brushing immediately after vomiting, consuming acidic drinks, or eating. This is because these activities make your mouth acidic and brushing afterwards can damage your enamel, the protective layer of your teeth.
Despite many people’s instinct to brush their teeth for a fresh feeling after being sick, the dental clinic suggests waiting at least 30 minutes until the pH in your mouth returns to neutral. In the reel caption, the dental experts wrote: “When should you NOT brush your teeth?
- Immediately after throwing up
- Straight after drinking acidic beverages like soda, tea, coffee and sparkling water
- Immediately after eating
Your mouth becomes acidic and starts to demineralise and soften your enamel after all three of these things. You need to wait at least 30 minutes to brush after the pH in your mouth has a chance to get back to neutral to prevent damage to your enamel. And always use a soft bristle toothbrush!”
The post, which has attracted an impressive 4.2 million views, 41,500 likes and over 200 comments, reveals that several people admitted to brushing their teeth after vomiting. The top comment reads: “I always brush my teeth after throwing up” garnering a whopping 2,551 likes.
Another user chimed in: “I will absolutely brush my teeth after throwing up because I cannot stand the taste of vomit.” Echoing the sentiment, someone else shared: “Not going to lie, I think my teeth are the last thing I’m worried about when I throw up. I just want the taste completely out.”
Meanwhile, a fourth individual insisted: “Nah I’m brushing my teeth immediately after throwing up.” Curiosity arose from another commenter who asked: “I’m interested in the reasoning behind this. Could you explain?”
The clinic responded with an informative reply: “The enamel starts to soften and demineralise at 5.5 pH. With all 3 of these things the mouth becomes acidic and the enamel begins to soften so you don’t want to be brushing and cause damage to the enamel. If you wait at least 30 minutes it gives the mouth a better chance at going back to a neutral pH and re-hardening the enamel.”
Additionally, the clinic clarified in their post’s caption: “It’s not bad to brush after these things. The emphasis is waiting 30 minutes to allow the pH in your mouth to neutralise and for the enamel to remineralise and re-harden before brushing them (teeth).”
The NHS has also weighed in on dental hygiene, advising people to brush their teeth with fluoride toothpaste twice daily for around two minutes to maintain healthy teeth and gums. It also recommends spitting out any excess toothpaste after brushing and “don’t rinse your mouth immediately after brushing, as it’ll wash away the concentrated fluoride in the remaining toothpaste”. Rinsing dilutes fluoride which is critical in preventing tooth decay and is commonly used in toothpaste.