Sometimes when it’s time for bed, you’re so tired that you wonder if you should really waste the time and energy brushing your teeth before falling asleep. After all, you can brush when you wake up in the morning. The truth? Those few minutes spent brushing your teeth at bedtime are critical to your overall oral health.
The Pros of Brushing Before Bed
If you need some motivation for brushing your teeth at night, even if you’re sleepy, here are a few of the pros:
- Remove bacteria buildup. As you eat throughout the day, the bacteria in your mouth feasts on the foods you eat. After feeding, they excrete waste that can break down your tooth enamel, resulting in cavities and decay. Brushing before you go to bed helps remove this plaque before it can harden and calcify on teeth.
- Help prevent gum disease. The plaque that causes tooth decay can also play a role in causing gum disease. Gum disease can be tough to treat and control if it progresses. Removing plaque at bedtime can help you prevent gum disease.
- Reduce the effects of dry mouth. Your mouth doesn’t produce as much saliva when you’re sleeping, and this makes your mouth a great place for bacteria to breed. When you brush at bedtime, you’ll remove a lot of bacteria and reduce the effects of dry mouth.
- Fresher morning breath. Think about a time you forgot to brush and woke up with terrible breath. Your mouth tastes and smells horrible when you forget to brush. When you take the time to brush, you’ll wake up with fresher breath — something you and others will appreciate.
The Cons of Failing to Brush Before Bed
Failing to brush before bed comes with both short- and long-term consequences. Here are a few of the cons of failing to brush at bedtime that will make you want to take the extra time to pick up your toothbrush at night:
- Terrible breath. All those food particles left in your mouth break down overnight and promote bacteria growth. This will cause awful breath in the morning. Failing to brush before bed leaves you at a greater risk for chronic bad breath.
- Cavities. Eventually, plaque that hardens on your teeth when you don’t brush will damage the enamel of the teeth, and this will likely result in cavities.
- Gum disease. Plaque buildup will be seen by your body as infection and your body will begin attacking the plaque buildup. This can make your body destroy healthy tissues holding teeth in place, causing gums to recede. Over time, this can result in tooth loss. Chronic inflammation has also been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and other health problems, so taking care of your teeth is important to your overall health, too.
Although brushing your teeth before bed can seem like a nuisance, your mouth’s health depends on that brushing time. Think about the potential consequences of not brushing — you can spare the two minutes!