Ever brush
your teeth, then take a swig of orange juice only to curse yourself for
drinking such a vile combination? Magazine and weblog Mental_Floss explains why
this happens, and how to avoid it. The strong minty flavor is probably part of
the problem, as you’d expect, but Mental_Floss
notes that it goes deeper than that. Most toothpastes contain sodium laureth
sulfate (and its counterparts, sodium lauryl ether sulfate and sodium lauryl
sulfate), which is responsible for making the toothpaste foam up in your mouth. Its also
responsible for everything tasting bad afterward:
While
surfactants make brushing our teeth a lot easier, they do more than make foam.
Both SLES and SLS mess with our taste buds in two ways. One, they suppress the
receptors on our taste buds that perceive sweetness, inhibiting our ability to
pick up the sweet notes of food and drink. And, as if that wasn’t enough, they
break up the phospholipids on our tongue. These fatty molecules inhibit our receptors
for bitterness and keep bitter tastes from overwhelming us, but when they’re
broken down by the surfactants in toothpaste, bitter tastes get enhanced.
Basically,
they enhance bitter tastes and inhibit sweet ones, making everything taste bad.
There are lots of theories out there, but this is currently the most widely
accepted one.
The
solution? You could brush your teeth after breakfast, but many dental professionals
say it’s better to brush beforehand. So, the better option is to search for an
SLS-free toothpaste the next time you’re shopping. Speaking from experience, an
SLS-free toothpaste changes everything—I used one for a little while and never
had the “disgusting orange juice” debacle in the morning. Generally it doesn’t
matter what kind of toothpaste you buy, but if you must brush your teeth before
breakfast, buying one without SLS is a good idea. Of course, you could always
brush your teeth in the shower, too.
By Whitson Gordon
Article appeared on www.Floss.com
Timothy A. Smith, DDS
609-T East Main Street
Purcellville, VA 20132
609-T East Main Street
Purcellville, VA 20132
