Rinsing Your Mouth Right After Brushing
I used to rinse after brushing my teeth — even going back over them with a wet toothbrush — to remove any remnants of toothpaste left in my mouth. Then I found out from a dentist’s TikTok video that rinsing off excess paste isn’t the most effective method of keeping your chompers in good shape. Instead, I now spit out as much toothpaste as I can without swishing with water, so I can allow the toothpaste to do its job just a little longer. I wasn’t sure why I was doing this or what the benefits were until I spoke with an expert.
Skip rinsing with water after brushing your teeth
Fluoride is an important ingredient in toothpaste that helps make the enamel harder and more resistant to acids that cause cavities. Hewlett says it’s the most well-established effective ingredient in toothpaste, so make sure yours has fluoride in it. When you brush your teeth, you’re cleaning any film and bacteria from food and sugary drinks. When you go a step further and skip rinsing, you’re leaving the fluoride from the toothpaste in your mouth for a longer time, giving you a better effect from the fluoride. Wait at least 15 minutes after brushing to drink water. After brushing your teeth, Hewlett explains, your saliva will clear the toothpaste out so you won’t taste it all day.
What if you’ve been rinsing all your life?
If you’re just finding out about this tip, you may be thinking you’ve been undoing all your hard work of brushing every day. That’s not true. Hewlett says as long as you brush the standard twice a day for 2 minutes each time, the fluoride will remain in your mouth to help protect your teeth. You’re still doing what you need to do to have good oral health to protect your teeth. The idea of not rinsing is just an extra step to help the fluoride be even more effective.