Do you clean your teeth after every meal?

This includes brushing or flossing or using mouthrinse or all of it.

Personally, my oral hygiene has been a thing of horror for years. As a child, I would wet my toothbrush. When my mom told me she saw things on my teeth, I started to brushing only my front teeth. Just enough to get the crud off but not with toothpaste. I was even worse when it came to flossing. I considered it such a hassle considering the few times I did it, I saw nothing on the string. I thought I obviously didn't ever get food caught in my teeth. Mouthwash was a waste of time in my thoughts too. I didn't bother doing it but once a month or two.

Obviously, these past few years, I've been living with the consequences of my irresponsibility. Hell, I was told about nine years ago by dentists that I had several cavities needing to be filled. I already had one and had six other teeth (wisdom teeth though they may have been) pulled. Now I'm need of five root canals and I can't even afford one.

So, how about it? Do you treat your teeth as sacred or do you take them for granted?

I'm pretty in-between. I brush a couple times a day, mouthwash and floss basically whenever I feel like my mouth is a bit grotty, I don't make a big deal out of it but I don't neglect it either.

Course I'm a Bongistani so I've got horrible teeth anyway :wacky:

Not really, but I often pop a sugar free gum.

I floss if I ever get food stuck in my teeth but I only brush in the morning and before bed

I eat all the time, so that would be a tedious task. :eep:

I brush my teeth with wire brushes, I floss with gristle and I use chocolate milkshake for mouthwash.

I snack a little more than I should so brushing after every meal would be overboard for me.

You aren't supposed to brush your teeth so obsessively, especially immediately after eating a sugary or acidic meal since brushing can cause corrosion.

I don't clean my teeth after every meal, no. Morning and night, mouthwash each time, mouthwash more during the day after coffee or if I've eaten something that requires it (garlic/onions). I have a thing about flossing - it's like nails on chalkboard to me to go between my teeth like that, so I try to stick to toothpicks and ways around it because I really cannot stand it :(

I used to brush my teeth a lot more frequently when I had braces (two and a half years of hell, that was) but now it's like, once a day, maybe twice if I eat something particularly sticky/sugary/starchy/s...bready. I use a manual brush and a wire brush, and sometimes floss. I rarely use mouthwash - just if my mouth is feeling kind of floury or whatever. Probably less attention than I should be giving them, but I've never really had any trouble from this.

There's actually a theory going around that if you want great teeth, you should brush after every swallow of food. Meals would take longer, but your teeth will thank you for it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alive-Man

There's actually a theory going around that if you want great teeth, you should brush after every swallow of food. Meals would take longer, but your teeth will thank you for it!

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This is a silly theory. When you brush your teeth, it is advisable to not consume anything immediately after as your teeth are more susceptible to corrosion after just brushing. There are different time limits you should wait to eat/drink anything that are thrown out there ranging from fifteen minutes to an hour. Brushing after every swallow is a terrible idea and would likely do just as much damage as if you were to not brush at all xD

Morning, Nighttime. Sometimes I'll use mouthwash as well, other times I'll only use it if I really need to.

I don't floss but I usually have a toothpick around after a meal.

My teeth are pretty troutty due to neglecting them a little when I was younger. Gotten on track with them in the past few years but I've got two in bad shape that need removing that'll be coming out in the next month or two.

If I'm at home I do brush my teeth after meals. But I only mouthwash and floss for the morning (twice - once before shower, once before leaving home) and bedtime brushes.

I also brush my teeth every time I'm about to leave the house. Even if I've been home for half an hour and I haven't eaten anything. I'm so scared of my teeth going bad. I know it's irrational and actually counter productive because over brushing can cause problems. :|

Something else to consider;

Time all your meals during the week - how long it takes to eat everything. Then at the end of the week add it all up, and brush for the total amount of time.

Saves a lot of time during the week but on brushday you may be going for a while!

I use a water pick with the pressure cranked up to fire hydrant levels and put some fine carbon silicate in the mixture.

Blasting my enamel down the the dentin and forcing it to regrow ensures I keep strong, cavity free teeth.

#protip

Brushing immediately after eating can open up your gums to infection by trapping food particles, but mouthwash should prevent that. Brushing immediately after consuming citrus is dangerous for your enamel... something to do with the mixture of citrus and flouride? I never understood that, but whatever.

These days, I try to bring floss and a dental pick with me if I think I'll be eating out... especially meat... :skull: is the worst. I can't use a regular toothpick to clean out the hole in my tooth because I can't fit my hand in my mouth, so the dental pick's hooked end really helps. I have to use the floss to really dig into my gums on the left side of my mouth because meatstuff gets deeply wedged up in there no matter how carefully I chew.

I sometimes eat several small meals a day, so the answer is ain't nobody for time for dat.

Not really no. I hear that doing that is actually real bad for your teeth so I just brush once a day before I go to bed. I also floss beforehand.

After every meal, no. At the end of every day, yes. I floss too.