You have heard how important good oral health habits at home are. Brushing twice daily, flossing, and visiting our office regularly can keep your mouth healthy, but eating certain foods may come with a warning sign. After an acidic meal, you need to wait to brush your teeth.
Foods such as lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit and tomatoes are great for a healthy body, but they can create come problems for your teeth if you are not careful.
Acid Can Damage Tooth Enamel
Exposing your teeth to acid meals on a regular basis can cause the enamel to weaken by losing important minerals that keep it strong. If you don’t take proper care, this exposure eventually destroys the enamel creating a cavity, which can be the beginning of other dental issues.
Wait to Brush Your Teeth After a Meal
Even though you need to brush your teeth after a meal, some studies concluded that it’s best to wait to brush. This is especially true after eating an acidic meal. Brushing too hard can damage the enamel that is already weakened after eating certain foods.
Mayo Clinic recommends you wait at least 30-minutes before brushing your teeth, in instances where you have eaten acidic foods, such as oranges, lemons or grapefruits. This will allow the enamel to recover from the acid.
Sugar Can Produce Acidity
Sugar itself is not acidic. Tooth decay is caused by bacteria eating the sugar and then producing acids. Acid attacks cause tooth erosion that damage the outer surface of the tooth enamel. This makes the tooth softer and allows bacteria to enter the tooth causing even more damage.
The enamel on our teeth is as hard as steel, but it can get damaged so after an acidic meal, you need to wait to brush! It is also a good idea to rinse your mouth with water after eating acidic or sugary foods until you can brush to minimize the damage to the enamel.