3 Times When You Shouldn’t Brush Your Teeth

We’ve been instilled with the importance of brushing our teeth twice daily from the moment our first incisors broke through our gums. Dentists recommend brushing first thing in the morning and again right before bed. But we’re all human, and it’s easy for this mundane task to slip our minds. In those moments, brushing our teeth becomes an “I need to do this now” task. However, there are certain situations where you should never brush your teeth. Making this mistake may cause your tooth enamel to rapidly degrade due to the high acid levels, leaving your teeth worse for wear.

How Acid Affects Teeth

Whether naturally occurring in our bodies or added to our food to make it tastier, acid in small amounts isn’t bad. However, acid can be extremely corrosive to your teeth. Too much acid and brushing too soon after contact with acid can weaken your enamel, eventually causing dental erosion: the loss of surface area on your teeth, making them extremely sensitive and prone to damage. This means you must avoid brushing your teeth for a while after they come in contact with acids.

Don’t Brush After Eating Breakfast

Eating breakfast raises the level of acidity in your mouth. Most breakfast favorites, including orange juice, grapefruit, and even buttermilk pancakes, are highly acidic. If you brush right after eating breakfast or any other meal with high acidic content, you can damage or even completely remove the protective enamel on your teeth. Wait 30 to 60 minutes after eating before grabbing a toothbrush. This waiting period allows saliva to naturally form and wash away the harmful acidic coating on your enamel.

Don’t Brush After Eating Sweets

Everyone loves a treat now and then. While sugar isn’t necessarily harmful, it encourages bacterial growth on your teeth. This leads to acid production, which causes tooth decay. This acid weakens the enamel, so brushing too soon after eating sweets can erode your teeth.

If you’ve just eaten something sweet and want to get sugar off of your teeth, start by swishing water around your mouth. After waiting 30 minutes, brush your teeth to remove any remaining sugar.

Don’t Brush After Vomiting

Brushing immediately after throwing up can do more harm than good. Stomach acid contains harsh components that eat away at your teeth, such as hydrochloric acid and sodium chloride. That means if you brush immediately after throwing up, you’ll spread that acid over your teeth and cause your enamel to eventually erode.

Instead of brushing right away, rinse your mouth with plain water to wash away the acid. Wait at least 30 minutes to let your natural saliva build back up — this natural regeneration of saliva helps displace the acid and remineralize the teeth to become stronger. Once 30 minutes have passed, you can brush your teeth. This also applies to using mouthwash after vomiting. Instead, use a baking soda and water mixture to neutralize the acid. 

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