Turns Out, You’ve Been Brushing Your Teeth Wrong Your Entire Life
If you’ve been rinsing your mouth after brushing your teeth, you’ve been doing it wrong your entire life.
Let me take a guess at your brushing routine:
- You wet your toothbrush
- Apply toothpaste to your toothbrush
- Brush your teeth
- Rinse out your mouth with water (using your hand or a small cup)
Sound about right?
Well, if you are doing step #4 it’s actually wrong.
In fact, some dentists believe that if you are rinsing after brushing, it’s like you’ve never been brushing your teeth at all.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was taught to spit and rinse at a young age and never knew this until I saw a video circulating social media the other day.
Truth be told, I feel like my entire life is a lie!
So, what is the proper way to brush your teeth?
Once you’re done brushing, simply spit out the excess toothpaste and go on about your day. No rinsing.
According to The Oral Health Foundation, new research reveals many of us could be putting our oral health at risk by making the mistake of rinsing after we brush our teeth.
Dr Carter said: “Rinsing our mouth with water is very bad for our teeth as it washes away the protective fluoride left behind by brushing.
“Fluoride is the single-most important ingredient in toothpaste. It greatly helps oral health by strengthening the tooth enamel, making it more resistant to tooth decay. It also reduces the amount of acid that the bacteria on your teeth produce.
“By spitting toothpaste out then not rinsing with water it ensures that the fluoride found in the majority of toothpastes will remain on the teeth and continue to be effective.”
Source
Now, if you are just finding this information out like I am, you’ll be happy to know that you’re not alone.
A poll conducted as part of National Smile Month, discovered almost two in three (62%) of us rinse our mouth with water after brushing our teeth, which actually makes us more prone to developing tooth decay.
Source
YIKES!
That means MOST people don’t even know they are brushing wrong.
And honestly, if you read the back of a tube of toothpaste, nowhere does it say to rinse.
It also explains why when you get fluoride put on your teeth at the dentist, they don’t rinse it off.
So remember, “Spit, don’t rise”.
You are welcome for ruining your day with this little bit of information. But hey, at least you can move forward with new information to help protect your teeth, right?
