Brushing first or last?

[Mr Rayon]

Is it more healthy to eat breakfast first before brushing your teeth in the morning or is it more healthy to brush first and then eat breakfast? What does everyone usually do first? And according the most recent scientific findings which order is best to do?

[lemur]

Brushing before eating could reduce the presence of harmful bacteria prior to the introduction of sugars that stimulate those bacteria's activity. Brushing after eating removes whatever sugars are left from eating and applies fluoride, which I think creates a thin protective layer that prevents residual bacteria and sugar from penetrating. I would do both, if possible, and if you would choose just one, I would choose to brush after. Some toothpaste ads, however, seem to recommend brushing once with their paste to protect the teeth for hours. In that case, you might want to brush before eating and then just rinse with water to remove anything remaining to prevent bacterial activity. Still, I think brushing after eating has the benefit of removing food residues from spots that would escape rinsing with water.

[michel123456]

Non scientific findings show that coffee tastes awful if you brush your teeth first.

[Sorcerer]

@lemur, flouride stops acid from reacting with the dentine, its the acid which is the by-product of the bacteria eating the sugar that does the damage.

 

I would say brush after. No scientific papers to back that up tho, just common sense, get rid of the food that the bacteria eat -----> get rid of the acid that decays ur teeth.

 

PS. why u use a pic of that douche bag mel gibson?

[TonyMcC]

Colgate advise that you don't brush your teeth immediately after a meal. If you have consumed acidic food or drinks you should wait for at least 60 minutes. There was an article in the uk press to this effect quite recently. For colgate's advice :

http://www.colgate.com/app/ColgateSensitiveNew/US/EN/Brushing-Right-After-A-Meal.cvsp

Edited February 19, 2011 by TonyMcC

[michel123456]

So you can get information even from such kind of thread. Thank you Tony (& Colgate).

[timo]

Is it more healthy to eat breakfast first before brushing your teeth in the morning or is it more healthy to brush first and then eat breakfast? And according the most recent scientific findings which order is best to do?

All dentist' opinions I've heard on this matter so far (i.e. TV interviews, friends, and the dentist I visit) are: don't bother, just do brush your teeth at least twice a day. That doesn't rule out that one of the options is better, but at least the difference doesn't seem enough for the experts to bother.

 

What does everyone usually do first?

Dunno about everyone. I brush my teeth right before leaving the house and right before going to bed. The latter obviously is after dinner. I do not have regular breakfast habits, but either have breakfast at home, outside (at work of in a cafe), or simply skip it; so the order can vary (since I do not bother bringing my toothbrush to work).

[Blossom]

brushing first is more healthy before taking breakfast because bacteria make biofilm over teeth when u sleep at night, which is harmful