Dentists warn Americans to STOP rinsing after brushing their teeth

You might be brushing your teeth wrong, leading dentists have warned. 

According to experts, rinsing your mouth with water after brushing undoes some of the benefits you get from brushing in the first place.

The best way to ensure you keep your set of pearly whites intact is to brush your teeth with a fluoride toothpaste, spit it out and go about your business.  

If you rinse your teeth after you brush you swish the fluoride - a chemical which protects teeth enamel and prevents decay - off of them. 

Most toothpaste contains fluoride that helps protect tooth enamel against the bacteria in your mouth

'You are basically rinsing away the active ingredients of the toothpaste that you just put on your teeth,' Dr Margherita Fontana, a professor of Dentistry at the University of Michigan, told The Washington Post.

Fluoride is a mineral stored in rocks and released into the air, soil and water, according to the CDC. It's found in very small amounts in brewed black tea, raisins and potatoes. 

When added to the surface of teeth, fluoride helps strengthen the enamel by  protecting against the acid naturally produced by the bacteria that live in the mouth. 

The bacteria go into overdrive when you eat a sugar-heavy diet or start slacking in oral care. 

If the acid sits on your teeth for too long, it can wear holes in your enamel, and cause cavities or other complications, according to the CDC. 

The bacteria that live on your teeth produce acid, that will eat at your teeth if you don't brush it away

The protective effects of fluoride was first discovered in the early 1900's by American and Italian dentists. 

Later, the US began a large scale test - adding fluoride to the water supply of four different cities beginning in 1945. 

By 1949, the rates of cavities were so low in these cities that the US moved to make fluoridated water a national standard. As of 2020, about 62.9 percent of Americans used fluoridated water supplies, according to the CDC.

The organization named this nearly national water fluoridation as one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.

Suffice to say, dentists are pretty convinced that fluoride is good for your teeth. They recommend brushing twice a day with a toothpaste that contains fluoride. 

In high amounts, fluoride can be toxic- leading to stomach pains and diarrhea, according to Medscape. 

But, dentists have conducted many studies, like this 2019 review of almost 12,000 patients, that show that toothpastes with 1500 ppm of fluoride are safe for long term use and unlikely to cause toxicity. 

'If your toothpaste has active ingredients like fluoride and potassium nitrate you'll want to spit, not rinse,' Dr. Joyce Kahng, Cosmetic and Restorative Dentist based in California, shared on TikTok. 

Commenters couldn't believe the news. Multiple people echoed the sentiment of user don_szalaya who commented, 'It’s hard not to I’ve been doing it my whole life.' 

So, if you're a chronic rinser and can't stand the feeling of leaving the toothpaste in our teeth, then you can rinse our your mouth with a fluoride mouthwash instead of water, Fontana said. 

Or if you can stand it, you can brush your teeth, wait 20 minutes, and then rinse.  

But really, the fluroide, and other active ingredients in the toothpaste, work best when you leave them to sit on your teeth, Kahng said.