By: Emily Zhang
While most people agree on brushing their teeth at night, many often debate about when to brush their teeth in the morning. Some people like to brush teeth as soon as they get up, while others brush after eating breakfast. What a dentist would say?
Brushing your teeth removes food debris from your mouth and keep your mouth environment clean. In addition, brushing teeth has another important role – to remove oral bacteria. The reproduction speed of bacteria is very fast, especially when you’re asleep. Since the amount of salivary enzyme secretion during sleep is greatly reduced compared with the daytime, bacterial reproduction becomes even faster. Because saliva has an antibacterial effect, it will keep the mouth in a relatively clean state. However, when a person is sleeping, the mouth will secrete less saliva.
Brushing your teeth before breakfast is more helpful to protect your teeth than brushing your teeth after meals. Even if you brush your teeth before going to bed, there will be a lot of bacteria in your mouth within a few hours of your sleep. The newly grown bacteria will form mature plaque after 12 hours, which can cause dental caries and periodontal disease. The purpose of brushing your teeth in the morning is to drive bacteria out of our mouth before the plaque matures. A recent study in the UK pointed out that the main factor in the formation of dental caries is that tartar reacts chemically with sugar in food, forming acidic substances that corrode teeth. Therefore, only the removal of the tartar before meals can reduce the formation of acidic substances.
In addition, brushing your teeth in the morning is an effective way to prevent bacteria from invading your body. Bacteria that multiply in the mouth can threaten your health. Improving hygiene inside the mouth reduces the risk of pneumonia in hospitals and nursing homes. Some people recommend drinking a cup of water in the morning, but in fact, it is a way to flush the bacteria in the mouth into your body. Similarly, eating breakfast in the morning without brushing results in swallowing bacteria and food together.
While brushing your teeth after getting up is the healthier choice, it is worth noting that after eating breakfast, you must rinse your mouth again to remove food residue. After eating breakfast, the food residue that stays in the mouth can start to ferment, becoming an agent for cultivating bacteria, so it is necessary to rinse after eating breakfast. Use floss if time permits, or brush it gently with a soft toothbrush.
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