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Dentist explains the 3 times you should never brush your teeth

Sometimes not brushing your teeth is the best way to protect them.

Representative Image from Canva

Add this to the list of things you didn't learn in health class.

For those who love the oh-so fresh feeling of immediately running to brush their teeth after a meal, we got some bad news.

London-based dental surgeon and facial aesthetics practitioner Dr. Shaadi Manouchehri recently shocked around 12 million viewers on TikTok after sharing the three occasions when you should “never” be scrubbing those pearly whites—if you want to actually protect your teeth, that is.

The hardest part about this video, which some viewers are undoubtedly still processing, is that each of these no-no times is exactly when brushing your teeth is the only thing you’ll want to do. So much for instincts.

Number one on Manouchehri’s list, which caused the most controversy in the comments, is right after vomiting. Yep, you read that right.

“This is because the contents of the stomach are extremely acidic and the mouth is already in a very acidic state so if you brush straight after [vomiting] you’re basically wearing away your enamel,” Manouchehri explained.

woman in green crew neck shirt holding red lollipopPhoto by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Of course, commenters weren’t willing to let this one go without a fight. One viewer wrote, “I would rather lose all of my teeth than not brush after vomiting.”

Teeth Getting Up GIF by Paddington BearGiphy

Manouchehri also says to avoid brushing your teeth directly after eating breakfast. This is because “when you’ve just eaten, the mouth is, again in a “very acidic state,” so if you’re brushing your teeth you’re rubbing that acid on the tooth, which wears down the enamel.” Other sources have also confirmed that brushing your teeth tight after any meal isn’t really recommended.

This goes double for right after sweets.

Manouchehri says to wait a full 60 minutes before putting a toothbrush anywhere near your mouth after having something sugary. Because…you guessed it…acid.

Does this advice seem counterintuitive? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

@drshaadimanouchehri #dentist #dentistry #dentaladvice #learnontiktok #funfacts #londondentist #dentalcleaning #teethbrushing #teethbrushingmadeeasy #teethbrushingtips #londondentistry #marylebonedentist #fypシ ♬ original sound - Dr Shaadi Manouchehri

“Ah, yes, the three times I want to brush my teeth more than any other time,” one person joked.

Luckily, there are few alternatives to try if you want that good, clean mouth feeling but don’t want to compromise your enamel—the simplest being to either rinse with or drink water. You can also use sugar-free chewing gum or conclude your meal with dairy or non-acidic foods, according to Advanced Dental Associates. If you still crave a little more of a hygiene bang, you can opt for a mouthwash with fluoride and using a tongue cleaner, which removes excess acid, per Curetoday.com.

Guess there’s a time and a place for everything, even when it comes to dental hygiene.

This article originally appeared on 4.16.24

From Your Site Articles

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Family

Sweet video shows dad get emotional after taking his 3-year-old to the dentist

"She's just sitting there…and the water works start coming..."

Image pulled from Youtube video.

Parenting is full of surprises

True

Parenting can be a little stressful. There's no checklist for how to do it perfectly.

As the father of two young daughters, Doyin Richards has a lot of experience in that department. Like most parents, he hopes he's doing it right. And like most parents, he has a little voice in his head that sometimes makes him second-guess his choices.

What if he's doing it wrong?

On his 3-year-old daughter's first trip to the dentist, Doyin was pretty worried she would freak out about the treatment. Of course, it turns out that the only person who lost their composure that day was him — when he realized she was totally fine and able to handle things herself.

Which made him realize that despite all his fears, he might actually be OK at this whole dad thing.

Watch Doyin try to hold it together while his daughter is totally chill at the dentist in this episode of "What Dads Do":

This article originally appeared on 08.23.16

From Your Site Articles

video

The VA doesn't cover dental care for all veterans. So these dentists are picking up the slack.

If you're a veteran, the VA won't help cover your pearly whites unless you fit into some very specific criteria.

Which means it is bizarrely difficult for many veterans to find affordable dental care.

The Department of Veterans Affairs helps veterans with a lot of medical insurance issues. However, veterans only qualify for full VA dental benefits under several specific conditions, including being 100% disabled or a former prisoner of war, or if they developed a dental issue while they were serving.

All photos by Aspen Dental, used with permission.

As a result, veterans struggle to find dental care that they can actually pay for.

And without access to dental care, veterans face life-threatening health risks like periodontal disease, which can lead to stroke or heart attack.

This is where the Mouth Mobile van comes in.

The van, which is run by Aspen Dental, is basically what it sounds like — a mobile dental office. It's a large van that travels through about 30 states each year, giving veterans free dental care.

The company started this initiative as part of its Healthy Mouth Movement, which was launched last year with the goal of reaching the 150 million Americans who are unable to visit the dentist because of high cost, lack of time, or lack of dental professionals nearby.

In 2014, the Mobile Mouth van treated almost 3,000 patients for free. When the volunteer dentists noticed how many of those patients were veterans without access to affordable dental care, they decided to make providing veterans with dental care their exclusive focus for 2015.

Aspen Dental has more than 500 offices around the country but has helped veterans in immeasurable ways thanks to the Mouth Mobile van.

Veteran William Bell, who couldn't get the VA to cover his costs, has Mouth Mobile to thank for his new set of teeth. According to The Huffington Post, when Bell arrived at the Mouth Mobile clinic, the volunteer dentist had to extract 19 of his 20 remaining teeth, which had deteriorated from severe periodontal disease.

Not only did Aspen Dental restore Bell to good dental health, they also provided him with dentures. The whole procedure and dentures would have cost him around $6,000, which he would not have been able to afford.

GIF via Aspen Dental/YouTube.

But it's not only Bell who Aspen Dental has helped. In September 2015, race car driver and Aspen Dental spokesperson Danica Patrick helped honor 2,200 veterans at the Chicagoland Speedway.

It's kind of weird that dental care is treated separately from the rest of our health care.

Dental care is so important not only to one's overall health but to our livelihoods, too. Especially in fields where interacting face-to-face with others is a regular part of the job, having clean, healthy teeth can be a huge advantage. Once Mouth Mobile restored Bell's teeth and provided him with a set of dentures, he had the confidence to apply for a job at the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

But dentistry is still often treated more as a "craft" than a medically necessary field, a centuries-old attitude that still remains today, which is why there's often a lack of availability in dental insurance.

Even the Affordable Care Act didn't initially include dental coverage, making such care unaffordable for many Americans. And a 2014 research brief from the American Dental Association found lack of income and insurance are the chief barriers to accessing dental care.

Obamacare still only extends dental coverage to children, not adults.

Mouth Mobile and similar initiatives are only a first step in solving this problem — not just for veterans, but for everyone.

Only when we realize that dental care is essential to our health — and only when we provide better insurance coverage for it — will we begin to make progress in ensuring everyone has the same access to dental care.