She’s sharing her morning drill.
UK dental surgeon Shaadi Manouchehri has revealed her three-step routine for good oral hygiene — brushing her teeth before breakfast, scraping her tongue twice a day and using mouthwash before brushing.
“I’m a dentist of almost 10 years, and it’s taken me that long to perfect this, and I feel like I have it down to a T,” Manouchehri beamed in a TikTok last month with nearly 20,000 views.
“First thing I do when I wake up is brush my teeth and then have breakfast,” Manouchehri shared.
“If you’re doing this the other way around, you can damage your teeth and your gums, and you’re more likely to get cavities because overnight, the bacteria in the mouth will multiply,” she explained. “If you eat straight away, that’s going to be really damaging, so you need to brush beforehand.”
Other dental experts agree — besides immediately removing harmful bacteria, brushing your teeth before breakfast can help increase saliva production to aid digestion.
“Saliva helps break down food and rinse away bacteria that might otherwise linger in your mouth,” Aveni Dental Professionals of Plymouth, Massachusetts, noted in a blog post about the benefits of brushing before breakfast.
Brushing before breakfast also shields teeth from harmful acids in food and drinks and provides fresh breath to start the day.
If you decide to brush after breakfast, wait 30 minutes to give your enamel time to remineralize and reharden after exposure to acidic foods. You can drink water to jumpstart this process.
“I will use a copper tongue scraper every morning and every night to scrape my tongue,” Manouchehri said.
Sweeping the tongue removes bacteria accumulation and prevents bad breath. Manouchehri prefers a copper tool because copper has antibacterial properties, and the scraper can be washed and reused.
A bonus? “I taste things a bit better as well,” Manouchehri said.
The Mayo Clinic recommends using mouthwash after brushing and flossing, but Manouchehri advocates rinsing with mouthwash beforehand.
“This is to make sure that the bacteria and the debris in the mouth are removed, and then you go and brush and floss,” Manouchehri reasoned.
“I used to use mouthwash after I brushed my teeth, and this is the worst thing you can do,” she continued. “If you use mouthwash straight after, that’s rinsing away the protective fluoride [toothpaste] layer, and it’s going to make your teeth more susceptible to getting cavities.”
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But Dr. Marc Lowenberg, a Manhattan-based cosmetic dentist, argues that mouthwash after brushing and flossing is better.
“The routine proven to keep your mouth and gums healthiest is floss, brush, then swish,” he told First For Women magazine last year. “Brushing and flossing loosens plaque, and mouthwash helps rinse it away.”
Lowenberg recommends flossing, brushing your teeth for two minutes, waiting about 30 minutes, then swishing with mouthwash for 30 seconds to a minute.