The truth about teeth

Posted on 4 April 2016

Should you brush your teeth before breakfast or after breakfast? And which is better: floss or mouthwash? We get the truth – the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth – from a Mediclinic dentist.

The best time to brush your teeth in the morning is… after breakfast. ‘If there’s any sugary or acidic content in your meal, brushing your teeth will reduce that,’ says Dr MD Baan, a dentist at Mediclinic Hoogland in Bethlehem in the Free State. ‘Also, plaque formation will be reduced if you brush after eating.’ If it’s before the time it doesn’t help really: if food gets stuck or there’s some sugary substance in there, then the bacteria forms a type of acid, and a cavity can form from there. So it’s much better to brush afterwards.

If you have to choose between flossing and using mouthwash, choose… both. Dental floss scrapes plaque and debris off parts of your teeth that brushing can’t reach, while mouthwash helps to kill oral bacteria – so they serve two distinct, but important functions. ‘The best would be to floss about twice a day,’ says Dr Baan. ‘If you can’t floss twice a day, then you should try for two to three times a week at least.’ Your best routine, she adds, would be to follow a three-step process every time: ‘Brush, then floss, then use mouthwash.’

As you get older, your teeth are at risk because… your body tends to produce less saliva. ‘That’s an important factor,’ says Dr Baan, ‘because saliva has important components which help to reduce plaque.’ Her advice for seniors is to brush even more regularly. ‘Instead of twice a day, like the average person, seniors should try brushing three times a day after every meal,’ she says. Want to increase your salivary flow? Try sugar-free chewing gum, says Dr Baan.

As you get older, your teeth are also at risk because… your bone density decreases. ‘That can make you more prone to gingivitis,’ warns Dr Baan, ‘so as you get older, you really have to up your game when it comes to oral hygiene.’ She says that diet also plays a major role in dental care – no matter what your age is. ‘Vitamin C, fresh fruit and vegetables will help a lot to decrease your gingivitis risk,’ she says.

Your best tool against tooth decay is… regular visits to the dentist. ‘I always recommend coming in for regular check-ups,’ says Dr Baan. ‘I’ve seen that the patients who come in for regular check-ups tend to have less problems – and if something does go wrong, there’s only a little bit of maintenance that the dentist needs to do. That’s far better than waiting for two to three years, and then it’s a disaster and you have to pull the tooth or get dentures.’

The best mouthwash on the market is… salt water. That’s right: ‘If your gums are bleeding, the best remedy for that washing your mouth out with lukewarm salt water after you’ve brushed your teeth,’ says Dr Baan. Her secret recipe? ‘Half a glass of lukewarm water with a teaspoon of salt,’ she says. ‘And if you have severe bleeding, add half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. If you mix that, it’s the best mouth rinse money can buy!’