Here's Why You Should Never Brush Your Teeth After Drinking Wine
There’s nothing like ending the night drinking a glass of wine, sitting on the couch and thinking about life’s mysteries. As if we needed any more reason to drink wine, doctors have been saying that it’s actually quite healthy.
It’s such bummer that wine stains the teeth, so it’s a good thing we can always brush our teeth immediately, right?
Well apparently, you shouldn’t do that. And if you do it, you should probably stop right now.
Hold on. We just said drinking wine is healthy, what gives?
Wine can lower the risk of heart disease, reduces the risk of diabetes, slow brain decline and so on. That’s bound to be useless if you’re going to lose your teeth anyways.
Brushing right after drinking wine erodes enamel at a faster rate, and there’s no other way to replace your precious enamel. To be safe, make sure that after downing that glass, you wait at least an hour before you go rushing to your toothbrush.
What exactly makes wine so damaging?
Both red and white wine have high levels of acidity, which, when in contact with teeth for a long period of time, can be damaging. In a study published in Nutrition Research, scientists determined white wine is more erosive than red.
“It was demonstrated that white wines have higher erosive potentials than red wines. Within the limits of this study, it can be predicted that a frequent consumption of white wines might lead to severe dental erosion.”
It’s not really the vintage that makes it dangerous for your teeth, so you can put that Bordeaux wine back on the rack.
I’d like it if my teeth stayed intact. Thankfully, there are easy ways to counteract erosion.
Wine attacks the calcium in the teeth. So eating cheese will actually help prevent the softening of the enamel. See, I knew there was a reason for those wine and cheese events.
What's more, saliva actually has more power than we think. It contains the calcium and phosphate ions that teeth have. Basically, saliva acts like a coat of armor and replenishes the calcium your teeth lose after you drink wine.
Just give your teeth a chance to recover from a glass full of acid attack, and you’re good to go!