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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

#31

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?

Depends what you're optimizing for. If you never eat or drink anything again, your teeth will stay healthy until you die...?

I've heard dentists recommend brushing after every meal. Which really doesn't seem realistic for people who snack or regularly drink coffee / tea.

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#32

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…

> Was everyone's teeth just completely screwed, all the time? How could evolution work that way? We need our teeth to eat.

Grains have sugar in them that cause tooth decay. You can blame agriculture, mostly.

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#33

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…

We do know how bad teeth were a century ago. There's even evidence that humans several thousands of years ago didn't have as many cavities as we do today because of their diet.

I'm not in a position to give you advice, but be very careful with your teeth. A tootache can lead to an infection that if not treaded may kill you.

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#34

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…

> It's weird that we don't know what teeth were like before fluoride was invented.

We have teeth from fossils that are a few thousand years old all the way to over a million years old.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129562...

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/oldest-human-f...

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/01/oldest-human...

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#35
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.

Do you have more information on this? I thought that fluoride was toxic and thus shouldn't be swallowed. Are the quantities too small to harm you yet sufficient to prevent the formation of caries?

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#38

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…

> Was everyone's teeth just completely screwed, all the time?

Well, often, yes. See, for example, the history of pre-modern dentures, which were common for people in only their 30s and 40s (George Washington's teeth all fell out before he even reached 30!).

> How could evolution work that way?

Two reasons:

First, if you've had children, you're surplus material. Most people throughout history who have had children have done so by the age of 30 or 40, and so after that, their teeth just don't matter, evolution-wise.

Second, humans evolved in an environment with very limited access to sugar and acidic foods. Sugar and acidic foods are the main cause of cavities, and have been common since the invention of civilization and extremely common since the advent of mass industrialization.

> Still have it six years later, and it's fine.

It's probably not fine. It's entirely possible to have teeth that are apparently pain-free right up until they literally snap in half from deep cavities.

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#39
https://neurogal.com/neuro-blog/is-fluoride-toxic-to-the-bra....

HOW DO I AVOID FLUORIDE TOXICITY? 1. AVOID FLUORIDATED WATER 2. AVOID NON-STICK COOKWARE 3. CHOOSE YOUR TEA WISELY 4. USE FLUORIDE-FREE TOOTHPASTE

I hate to be a contrarian, but the latest intelligence says fluoride is a neurotoxin.

Re: Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing

#40
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.

In some areas there is too much of fluoride naturally and it must be removed, not added.

Geographical areas associated with groundwater having over 1.5 mg/L of naturally occurring fluoride, which is above recommended levels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation#/media/File...

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