Toothbrushing poll

[Tanaqui]

So this morning my sister was here, and she overheard me chivvying the girls out of bed. "Go brush your teeth, and then you can have breakfast!"

 

"Don't you mean brush your teeth after?"

"I mean both."

"WHAT?"

"Well, uh, that's what the orthodontist said!"

 

Which is the truth, but it got me thinking. Which is more common, and why do you do the way you do?

[Farrar]

Oh thank goodness I'm not the only person willing to admit she's not a good flosser. I do it a couple of times a week usually...  :leaving:

[Lady Florida.]

I usually don't brush untll after breakfast. Also every time I leave the house, even if I've already brushed. I brush before bed at night.

 

I floss thoroughly nightly, but floss throughout the day because I can't stand food between my teeth. I have a fair amount of space due to gum surgery, so food easily gets in. That's not the regular kind of flossing though, just enough to stop driving me crazy. The serious flossing happens as part of my bedtime routine. 

[Tap]

Other....it varies, before or after, but I always brush my teeth sometime in the morning.

Sometimes for flossing

Never on mouthwash

 

 

[8circles]

Brush before & after breakfast.

 

No flossing but waterpik at least 2x/day.

 

Mouthwash several times a day.  usually before & after each brush.

[4ofus]

I brush upon rising. I really hate yuck-mouth.

[Tanaqui]

Hey, I just realized, I can give my own post as many stars as I like!

 

Sorry, we can now return you to your regularly-scheduled hygiene discussion.

[umsami]

I do it both before and after.  When I wake up, my mouth feels yucky (plus I have a bite guard).  After, I want my mouth to feel nice and clean for the day. :)

[MarinesWife]

If I'm eating soon and at home, then I wait until after I eat.

 

If I'm leaving the house or it might be a little while I brush during my morning routine.

[Seasider]

Last time I was at the dentist, my hygienist asked me about mouthwash usage. She said the latest advice is NOT to use it daily, because the alcohol content in many mouthwash products cause the gums to dehydrate and shrink back. She told me this was based on new findings and everyone was surprised by it. Occasional use is fine, but overuse is not good.

[Laura Corin]

I brush after breakfast and then again before bed, and floss once a day in the evening.  I don't mouthwash regularly, but rather to freshen my breath if I feel it's needed for any reason.  Maybe a couple of times a week?  There wasn't an option for me on that part of the poll.  I used non-alcohol mouthwash.

[Tanaqui]

Last time I was at the dentist, my hygienist asked me about mouthwash usage. She said the latest advice is NOT to use it daily, because the alcohol content in many mouthwash products cause the gums to dehydrate and shrink back. She told me this was based on new findings and everyone was surprised by it. Occasional use is fine, but overuse is not good.

 

Interesting. I'll have to look into that, thanks.

[Guest]

I usually don't brush untll after breakfast. Also every time I leave the house, even if I've already brushed. I brush before bed at night.

 

I floss thoroughly nightly, but floss throughout the day because I can't stand food between my teeth. I have a fair amount of space due to gum surgery, so food easily gets in. That's not the regular kind of flossing though, just enough to stop driving me crazy. The serious flossing happens as part of my bedtime routine.

This is me, too. If I'm leaving the house, I want to be sure my teeth and breath are fresh. I also have a tooth that was once poorly filled by a young dentist and food gets stuck in there very often. I cannot stand that and will floss that out imediately. I keep floss in the car and in my backpack, plus I have some in the kitchen. :D

[kewb]

I brush when I wake up. I can't stand the way my teeth feel when I first wake up. It drives me bonkers that everyone else in this house waits until after they eat breakfast.

[Night Elf]

I brush my teeth after breakfast because food tastes differently if I brush with minty toothpaste before.

I don't floss my teeth the way I should. Usually once a week.

I don't use mouthwash. I don't have a reason though. DH does. He has a whole routine with plaque rinse, fluoride rinse, and mouthwash. I think that's overkill but it's his mouth and time.

[The Girls' Mom]

I brush when I leave the house, and before bed.  Not a big breakfast eater, and I'm a zombie when I first get up.  

 

I rarely floss. 

 

I don't use mouthwash.

 

I also only see the dentist once every 5 years or so...lol.  

 

I haven't had a cavity or other issue since I was in my early 20s.  (well, I did have a filling crack a couple of years ago, but that is because of how old it was)

 

I got the luck of the draw.  My dds brush faithfully, see the dentist every 6 months, and still have their father's teeth, complete with cavities every time we turn around.

[MEmama]

Brush after breakfast.

Toothpaste+coffee isn't a great combination.

 

Floss every night.

I'm another one who stashes floss in every purse, in my car and in the downstairs bathroom just in case.

 

Water Pic with mouthwash every night after flossing.

I hate using the mouthwash, but it's dentist's orders. I have receding gums from over brushing as a kid and bad genes and supposedly this is helping.

[JessReplanted]

I brush after coffee.

 

The kids brush after breakfast, unless we are leaving the house to have breakfast - then they would brush before we left the house.

 

We floss (and brush) at night before bed.

[VaKim]

Yuck! I cannot imagine brushing before eating! The toothpaste leaves a taste in my mouth that does not go well with any food or drink.

[Butter]

I brush after breakfast.  Food and water are gross after brushing.  I don't want to eat if my teeth are freshly brushed.

[Jackie]

I tend to use mouthwash rather than brushing in the morning. I figure the goal is to kill off bacteria that has been growing in my mouth overnight, given that I haven't put any food or drink other than water into my mouth since last brushing my teeth. I use the alcohol free mouthwash, so no known issues with using it frequently.

 

I brush after lunch and before going to bed. In the morning, I'm too often sipping on some drink to stop and add toothpaste flavoring.

[AmandaVT]

I brush first thing when I wake up. I feel gross otherwise. I also brush before leaving the house. And at night. 

 

I floss every night. I'll also floss during the day if I feel something in my teeth. I got the cavity prone teeth, so if I'm not completely meticulous in my dental hygiene, I'll get cavities. 

 

I don't use mouthwash often, but if I do, it's post flossing and brushing before bed. 

[KrissiK]

I brush after breakfast and then I brush and floss right before going to bed. I go to the dentist twice a year and my hygienist doesn't tell me to improve upon this plan, so I figure it's working fine!

[Laura Corin]

I brush after breakfast and then I brush and floss right before going to bed. I go to the dentist twice a year and my hygienist doesn't tell me to improve upon this plan, so I figure it's working fine!

 

Yes - I didn't use to floss and was heading towards gum disease.  Now that I floss, my dentist is very pleased - my schedule is the same as yours.

[melmichigan]

I brush after breakfast most days, sometimes before if I have something to do.

 

I brush and floss before bed each night.

 

I used to use mouthwash twice a day after brushing until they found strong links to alcohol in mouthwash and oral cancer so I stopped on the advice of my dentist.  Sometimes I do use fluoride after flossing.

 

I have good genetics and have had only two cavities in my life, but I routinely crack teeth because of clenching.

[Mergath]

I brush after breakfast, because I can't stand my coffee tasting like mint. 

 

I only floss once in a while, because my teeth are super crowded and flossing them is a nightmare. Thanks for deciding I didn't need braces, mom.

 

I don't use mouthwash, but I do oil-pulling.

[desiree77]

I brush and floss when I wake up. I used to brush at night as well, but my dh never brushed at night, unless he was wanting to clean up nice for me, and he never got cavities, ever. I'd have a few cavities every year, so I gave up brushing at night, and lo and behold, no more cavities for me. Not one in 15 years. I still think it's kind of gross, but it works for me, so I stick with once a day.

 

And I don't have a problem with eating after brushing in the morning. Nothing tastes gross.

 

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[SKL]

I was taught to brush after breakfast, but then I met a friend who was so horrified by this practice, she convinced me.  If you eat breakfast without brushing, you are swallowing stuff you probably don't want to swallow.  So now I brush before eating / drinking anything.  (And preferably before breathing on anyone. ;))

 

Flossing - I should do it every day, but it's such a production.  I am lucky if I do it once a week.

[QueenCat]

Last time I was at the dentist, my hygienist asked me about mouthwash usage. She said the latest advice is NOT to use it daily, because the alcohol content in many mouthwash products cause the gums to dehydrate and shrink back. She told me this was based on new findings and everyone was surprised by it. Occasional use is fine, but overuse is not good.

 

Interesting. Mine recommends it once a day. But it doesn't have alcohol in it (many don't anymore).

[6packofun]

Some of the options didn't quite work for me.  I floss, just not every day.  Maybe 3x a week.  I use mouthwash, but usually for a quick freshening of my breath and mouth BETWEEN brushing if I feel I need it.  (I like mouthwash as an option because I can be a forceful brusher and mouthwash is more gentle than brushing 3x a day! lol)

[luuknam]

After breakfast. Because that's how I was taught when I was little. :)

 

I took a Caries Management By Risk Assessment course* on Coursera a while ago (almost two years ago?)). The overall conclusion was that it doesn't really seem to matter, but that if you brush after you eat, it may be best to wait 30+ min after eating before brushing (because the bacteria create acid that weakens your enamel so you're more likely to damage your enamel if you brush too soon after eating... but that's likely only an issue if you have weak enamel to begin with... most people can brush right after eating without it being a problem). The before vs after discussion is pretty much about whether you brush to get rid of the bacteria or to get rid of the food. So long as you brush twice a day, it's often enough for both anyway. Also, in related questions, it doesn't seem to matter if you floss before or after brushing (and flossing doesn't have much if any impact on caries, but it does keep your gums healthy, which is imo more important anyway).

 

* https://www.coursera.org/course/cariesmanagement- I don't know if they'll offer it again at some point, and the stuff about flossing was mostly in the discussion forums the time I took it since flossing doesn't have much of an impact on caries, so it was outside the scope of the course.