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Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

nhs.uk

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Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#21

Post by Darmody »

throwaway287391 wrote: post #10
cameronbrown wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can spit but don't add water. That should get rid of most of it.

Right but the question is for how long? Surely you're not supposed to never put water in your mouth again, so how long should you wait? 1 minute? 10 minutes? An hour?

30 minutes according to some dentists I know.

I used to rinse my mouth with water, now I just spit the toothpaste.

I haven't asked but this may be recommended only if you're not using an abrasive toothpaste which could damage your teeth enamel.

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#22

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

jonathanbull wrote: post #19
asdff wrote: post #13

In the US, drinking water supplemented with fluoride for this very reason, so feel free to rinse out your dislodged food scraps after brushing and ignore this advice from the NHS.

Water in the UK is also supplemented with flouride. I think the point is that toothpaste contains more.

Only about 10% of it, according to Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoridation_by_country (75% of those with community water systems in the U.S., for reference.)

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#23

Post by HenryBemis »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #15

It's weird that we don't know what teeth were like before fluoride was invented. The knowledge isn't directly accessible to everyday people. Sure, we know some examples, but what about the averages? Was everyone's teeth just completely screwed, all the time? How could evolution work that way? We need our teeth to eat. It's further complicated by the invention of processed sugar, which ruins teeth. Before that, presum…

Considering that "back then" (e.g. 2000 years ago) people didn't consume sugar, soft drinks, and their food was mostly natural and sparse (no 3 meals and 2 snacks), plus the fact that people didn't live to 100yo, I would assume that tooth decay was less of a problem.

Interesting article for about 12,000 years ago: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/06/tooth-d...

The comparison to London 200 years ago is astonishing, sugar is bad for us a hundred different ways!

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#24

Post by edoceo »

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #22
jonathanbull wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Water in the UK is also supplemented with flouride. I think the point is that toothpaste contains more.

Only about 10% of it, according to Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoridation_by_country (75% of those with community water systems in the U.S., for reference.)

10% of water in UK, not 10% of toothpaste.

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#25

Post by words3425434 »

asdff wrote: post #13

In the US, drinking water supplemented with fluoride for this very reason, so feel free to rinse out your dislodged food scraps after brushing and ignore this advice from the NHS.

"Using a mouthwash that contains fluoride can help prevent tooth decay, but don't use mouthwash (even a fluoride one) straight after brushing your teeth or it'll wash away the concentrated fluoride in the toothpaste left on your teeth. "

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#26

Post by allovernow »

zzleeper wrote: post #8
stygiansonic wrote: post #2

Also from the article: " It's best to floss before brushing your teeth. "

Why? I would have thought it makes more sense to brush, then floss, then wash at the end so the fluoride stays longer

I suspect it doesn't really make a difference, there may have been one mediocre study which showed a couple percent improvement, or more than likely one opinion simply gained more traction than the other.

Both orders have downsides - if you floss first, you risk forcing detritus back between your teeth while brushing.

If you brush first, you risk leaving some of the gunk from between your teeth on the surfaces - although perhaps now it will be bound loosely enough to be washed off with water.

Either way you're probably getting rid of most of the organic material anyway.

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#27

Post by HenryBemis »

chpmrc wrote: post #9
cameronbrown wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can spit but don't add water. That should get rid of most of it.

Have you ever brushed your teeth?? (Just joking)

I think we all use excessive amount of toothpaste. That makes us get a mouth full of foam, that subsequently forces us to rinse instead of just spit.

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#28

Post by climb_stealth »

rococode wrote: post #5
xenospn wrote: post #3

So I'm supposed to leave the toothpaste in my mouth? For how long? EDIT: I'd also like to point out that I have been rinsing my mouth after brushing for the last 40 years, never used mouthwash, and never had a cavity.

I'm not sure if this is correct but when I was in college I noticed a couple guys who just spit and didn't rinse at all. Like, ever. They just brush, spit out some toothpaste, and then move on to the next step of their routine. At the time it seemed kinda freaky to me since I always rinse the toothpaste out when I finish brushing, but maybe they were doing it right... I can't get over the feeling over toothpaste stuc…

Hah. This is perfectly normal for me. I have never done the rinsing after toothbrushing thing. There's definitely something about childhood patterns though. The slight taste of toothpaste in my mouth makes me feel clean and refreshed. I brush my teeth several times a day, usually just before I go somewhere.
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