5 ms·

The tl;dr: If your toothpaste contains Flouride, it needs to stay on your teeth for 20-30 minutes in order to work properly. If you don't want to do that—or yo

The tl;dr: If your toothpaste contains Flouride, it needs to stay on your teeth for 20-30 minutes in order to work properly. If you don't want to do that—or you don't have a toothpaste containing Flouride—you can followup the brushing with a Flouride-containing mouthwash, which you do not wash out. This is what I do. I use a mouthwash with Flouride, and don't rinse my mouth for ~30 minutes after using it. This reminds me of a change that my dentist's office made a few years ago: Apparently dental insurance (at least my plan) has added coverage for a Flouride treatment with every office visit, so they have me do a Flouride rinse—probably with a higher-concentration rinse—at the end of each visit.

pavel_lishin 3y ago
Is the don't-rinse advice still needed in areas where water is fluoridated, since that's what I'm rinsing with?
- DesertVarnish 3y ago
  My understanding is that fluoridation of municipal water supplies serves a different purpose than fluoride in toothpaste. The fluoride in the water supply is low concentration and is intended to cause teeth to develop with stronger cavity resistance, toothpaste is a much more superficial and immediate measure.
  - toast0 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - Grazester 3y ago
      I thought it was in the water to rot your mind! Wasn't there a link between flouride and lower IQ in children?
      - xenospn 3y ago
        No.
        Grazester 3y ago
        Funny thing is I first read about it on Hacker news https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36106925 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36106925
      - gumby 3y ago
        Not IQ directly, but rather higher fealty to the Qanon joke, a phenomenon correlated to lower IQ
        egberts1 3y ago
        Dammit, you're Gumby!
    - 486sx33 3y ago
      And apparently only available from China for municipalities now. So Chinese mind control. https://www.wcvb.com/article/chinese-fluoride-in-mass-water-raises-concern/8157985 https://www.wcvb.com/article/chinese-fluoride-in-mass-water-...
omgbear 3y ago
I used to rinse with mouthwash after brushing but was told the toothpaste has a much higher concentration, so it's better to leave the toothpaste.
- aesh2Xa1 3y ago
  You could also rinse the toothpaste from the brushing, and then you can apply additional toothpaste and swish it around some (and not rinse). That may seem odd to do, but if the main reason you rinse is to wash away the junk that you loosened by brushing then it makes sense.
mjrpes 3y ago
I need to rinse after brushing to feel clean, so my solution has been to swish around a tiny dab of toothpaste in my mouth afterward and spit out the excess.
- mikae1 3y ago
  Floss, rinse thoroughly with water, brush with fluoride toothpaste (and do not rinse after).
aaron695 3y ago
> I use a mouthwash with Flouride Does anyone want to commit? Name a brand and why? Most mouth wash seems to have fluoride and they don't say how much, but you also have a fluoride mouth rinse. I just bought a fluoride mouth rinse that was Sodium Fluoride 0.2mg/mL (Equivalent to 220 PPM Fluoride ION) which matches this study - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525928/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525928/ - "the weekly use of 0.2% sodium fluoride mouthwash program has been successful in elementary schools of Tabriz" How much is in normal mouth wash?

pavel_lishin 3y ago

Is the don't-rinse advice still needed in areas where water is fluoridated, since that's what I'm rinsing with?

DesertVarnish 3y ago
My understanding is that fluoridation of municipal water supplies serves a different purpose than fluoride in toothpaste. The fluoride in the water supply is low concentration and is intended to cause teeth to develop with stronger cavity resistance, toothpaste is a much more superficial and immediate measure.
- toast0 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - Grazester 3y ago
    I thought it was in the water to rot your mind! Wasn't there a link between flouride and lower IQ in children?
    - xenospn 3y ago
      No.
      - Grazester 3y ago
        Funny thing is I first read about it on Hacker news https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36106925 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36106925
    - gumby 3y ago
      Not IQ directly, but rather higher fealty to the Qanon joke, a phenomenon correlated to lower IQ
      - egberts1 3y ago
        Dammit, you're Gumby!
  - 486sx33 3y ago
    And apparently only available from China for municipalities now. So Chinese mind control. https://www.wcvb.com/article/chinese-fluoride-in-mass-water-raises-concern/8157985 https://www.wcvb.com/article/chinese-fluoride-in-mass-water-...

omgbear 3y ago

I used to rinse with mouthwash after brushing but was told the toothpaste has a much higher concentration, so it's better to leave the toothpaste.

aesh2Xa1 3y ago
You could also rinse the toothpaste from the brushing, and then you can apply additional toothpaste and swish it around some (and not rinse). That may seem odd to do, but if the main reason you rinse is to wash away the junk that you loosened by brushing then it makes sense.

mjrpes 3y ago

I need to rinse after brushing to feel clean, so my solution has been to swish around a tiny dab of toothpaste in my mouth afterward and spit out the excess.

mikae1 3y ago
Floss, rinse thoroughly with water, brush with fluoride toothpaste (and do not rinse after).

aaron695 3y ago

> I use a mouthwash with Flouride Does anyone want to commit? Name a brand and why? Most mouth wash seems to have fluoride and they don't say how much, but you also have a fluoride mouth rinse. I just bought a fluoride mouth rinse that was Sodium Fluoride 0.2mg/mL (Equivalent to 220 PPM Fluoride ION) which matches this study - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525928/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525928/ - "the weekly use of 0.2% sodium fluoride mouthwash program has been successful in elementary schools of Tabriz" How much is in normal mouth wash?