The Best Time to Brush Your Teeth, According to Dentists

There are two kinds of brushers: those who brush their teeth before breakfast, and those who brush them after. But which one is the right way to keep you healthy?

If you’re asking questions about how best to brush your teeth, your dentist probably isn’t too worried about you. But for some, the best practices surrounding oral hygiene can seem tough to follow, or downright complicated. In a 2018 interview with Lifehacker, two dentists weighed in on when the right time to brush, floss, and use mouthwash.

When Should You Brush Your Teeth in the Morning?
When Should You Be Flossing and Using Mouthwash?

When Should You Brush Your Teeth in the Morning?

As it turns out, it probably doesn’t matter whether you brush before or after breakfast. Your teeth will get clean either way. There is, however, a caveat that applies to after-breakfast brushers—if your meal contains orange juice or anything acidic (coffee is fine), dentists recommend waiting 30 minutes after your meal to pick up the toothbrush. Because the acid in food interacts with the enamel on your teeth, you can do microscopic damage to the enamel if you brush right away.

If you’re an after-breakfast brusher who is just now hearing about the 30-minute rule, don’t panic. While it’s a good idea, it’s not that big of a deal, according to some dental professionals, like the Kansas-based dentist Grant Richey. As he told Lifehacker, he would never look at a patient with worn-away enamel and say, “Oh, if you just would have waited 30 minutes after drinking that orange juice this wouldn’t have happened.”

When Should You Be Flossing and Using Mouthwash?

As for flossing, a bombshell 2016 article by the Associated Press reported that scientific studies have yet to prove that flossing is good for you—but that doesn’t mean you should skip it. According to organizations like the American Dental Association, the lack of flossing-friendly data may be due to the difficulty of studying it long-term, rather than it not being valuable. The Harvard Health Blog echoed this sentiment, claiming that more research is needed before folks opt to just skip flossing altogether.

Basically, there’s no real consensus on whether to floss before or after you've brushed. Dentists argue that flossing is such a low-cost, low-risk activity that it’s worth it to keep doing it twice a day. When in your morning routine you should do it, though, is still an open question. The important thing is that you floss at all, according to dentists like Mark Burhenne, whose website, Ask the Dentist, recommends you “stick with whatever works for you” when it comes to the timing of your flossing.

“Look, as long as you are brushing twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, and flossing or using another interdental cleaner twice a day, you’re good to go,” Alice Boghosian, a spokesperson for the American Dental Association, told Lifehacker. “God bless people if they feel comfortable flossing after they brush, as long as they’re cleaning between their teeth once a day.”

As for mouthwash, it’s not totally necessary to maintain oral health, as Boghosian said. It’s more for making your breath smell good. Therefore, it makes sense to do it last so your mouth stays minty fresh as long as possible. Plus, it can help remove plaque on those days when you forget to floss.

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A version of this article was originally published in 2018 and has been updated for 2025.