I have a mouth filled with my original teeth. I collected the whole set and have always felt some sense of obligation to keep them in some form of working order ever since. We are very fortunate in that, even in retirement, I can afford to have dental insurance, which is quite an additional expense for many across the country but for me, as my aforementioned dedication to oral hygiene may have made clear, a necessary investment.
I brush and floss twice a day and use two different kinds of toothpaste. One kind is for 'sensitive teeth,' not that you'd know I have any to hear my language for the most part, and the other for additional teeth and gum protection (as I've aged ('improved' as I like to say)). My teeth and gums are separating more (not sure if there's a moment where the teeth just fall out when I smile broadly, but why should I take that chance?).
And then I use an oral rinse and swish it around for thirty seconds to a minute, providing my long-suffering wife some of the few moments of silence she has in her entire shared day with me.
I brush after breakfast and before going to bed at night, actually before I insert the mandibular advancement device that has so drastically reduced my snoring (and improved my mental alacrity which needed all the help it could get) and continues to mitigate to a great degree my sleep apnea.
Having told you all of this, I was intrigued to encounter an article the other day, Should You Brush Your Teeth or After Breakfast? that suggested I (and by extension, you as well) might be better off brushing before breakfast and making a pretty darned compelling case.
I will admit I did get tripped up by the title of the source of much of the information, a dental influencer, who is actually a real dentist and whose Instagram profile suggests he is a 'singing dentist' (you can be the judge).
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and now I feel like a ticking time bomb, but with a killer smile and minty, fresh breath.
-bill kenny
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