IT IS AN important decision to start the day with: should you brush your teeth before or after breakfast?
Conventional wisdom says after breakfast, a habit we’ve been taught and which we have practiced since childhood.
The official advice of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service: “Brush your teeth for about two minutes last thing at night before you go to bed and on one other occasion every day.”
So which is it for that “one other occasion”? Before or after breakfast? New knowledge indicates it should be before breakfast.
“It’s difficult information to get across,” says Dr. Ben Atkins, president of the Oral Health Foundation, a non-profit oral health care advocate in the United Kingdom.
“Think about who taught you to brush your teeth. I’m 46, so for me it was a generation born in the 1940s, who have had oral health issues … and then the people who taught them often ended up with no teeth.
“Even when speaking with health visitors about my own children, there have been a couple of occasions where my wife has kicked me under the table because she can see the vein starting to bulge in my forehead.”
You see, the pH or acidity level shoots up during breakfast when people drink, say, sour fruit juice. Or dip tuyo in vinegar. Or savor the tomato that goes with salted egg.
So it is better if teeth is protected beforehand, so that decay doesn’t start when acidic foods and drinks are taken during breakfast.
Fluoridated toothpaste is also an important part of the process as it provides extra protection.
Fluoride helps protects the teeth by helping strengthen the enamel that gives protection from acidic foods and drinks and from bacteria caused by plaque.
Fluoride protects teeth against demineralization when bacteria and sugars produce acid and erodes the tooth enamel.
It is important to remember that fluoride is there for a good reason. And it should not be flushed out immediately by rinsing right after brushing the teeth.
The advice: spit, not rinse.
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim is the former Associate Dean of the College of Dentistry, University of the East; former Dean, College of Dentistry, National University; Past President and Honorary Fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy; Honorary Fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists; and Honorary Life Member of the Thai Association of Dental Implantology. For questions on dental health, e-mail jdlim2008@gmail.com or text 0917-8591515./PN
