Skipping your nightly routine of brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash to keep your smile healthy can become a bad habit! Finding that time to brush your teeth in the morning is easier because you’ll see people and everyone wants to look their best for the day. At night? Not so much. Some people find brushing their teeth before bed to be largely pointless or just occasionally forget. However, skipping your nightly oral care has its consequences. What’s happening after you fall asleep when forgetting to brush?
Your Mouth Turns Dry and Acidic
When you wake up in the morning, your mouth feels dry and you likely need a drink shortly after waking. This is because while we sleep, our mouths aren’t producing as much saliva. Not only does this make our teeth and gums vulnerable to bacteria that reside in our mouths, but your vulnerability is increased when you skip brushing.
Dry mouth along with the bacteria from unremoved plaque creates an acidic environment in which your tooth enamel is at risk and tooth decay and gum disease can actively work to ruin your smile.
Bacteria and Plaque Take Over
Due to the fact that your dry mouth creates the ideal environment for bad bacteria, plaque and bacteria take over your mouth while you’re sleeping when you skip brushing. Plaque can begin to harden and irritate your gum line, and your body reacts by engaging your immune system to try and fight what it perceives as an infection. So your body is actually working harder while you sleep when you don’t brush!
Bacteria can also attack your tooth enamel, which can lead to eroded enamel over time and cause cavities and tooth decay, not to mention sensitive teeth. Skipping brushing creates opportunities for your smile to be more affected by bacteria that would normally be removed with nightly brushing before your hours of rest.
The Important Thing
You can protect your smile during your beauty sleep by brushing and flossing before bed. If you don’t have time to floss, save it for the morning—once a day is enough. When it comes to brushing, however, you can better your chances of oral health success by aiming to brush twice a day.
If you forget to brush before bed once in a while, this likely won’t have a huge impact on your smile. The important thing is to not make a habit of it. If you’re going to bed a few nights a week without brushing, you’re putting your beautiful smile at risk for enamel erosion, cavities, gum disease, and plaque buildup. A two-minute brush before bed can prevent this from happening!
Skipping your nightly oral care routine shouldn’t be something you do regularly. Proper brushing before bed for about two minutes is something you should be making a habit of! Remove bacteria and plaque, protect your smile, and reduce your chances of problems with your teeth and gums with nightly brushing. Skipping this simple task has more consequences than you think!
