What Happens If You Only Brush Your Teeth Once a Day?

Posted on: 24 June 2022

You can usually get away with skipping a shower every now and then if life gets hectic. However, skipping just one tooth-brushing session can have a very negative impact on your oral health. This goes for skipping morning brushing and nighttime brushing.

Before you think about not brushing your teeth, consider the damage that you could do to your oral health. Here are some of the worst effects of skipping brushing your teeth.

Skipping nighttime brushing

Although skipping a tooth-brushing session is always bad, whatever the time of day, missing a nighttime oral hygiene session has some unique negative effects.

Oral bacteria will flourish while you sleep

While you sleep, oral bacteria can flourish in your mouth. This is especially true if you breathe through your mouth while you sleep, as this habit dries your mouth out. While awake, your saliva helps to control the population of oral bacteria in your mouth.

Brushing at night removes most of the harmful oral bacteria from your mouth. But if you sleep without brushing your teeth, you go to sleep with an entire day's worth of oral bacteria.

Your mouth will become acidic

Oral bacteria produce acids. These acids cause tooth decay and gum disease since they can damage your teeth and gums. So while you sleep, your mouth will gradually become more acidic.

Food debris will rot in your mouth overnight

All the food debris you didn't remove from your teeth before you slept will rot in your mouth while you sleep.

You'll awaken with terrible morning breath

The combination of rotting food and teeming oral bacteria will leave you with terrible morning breath.

Skipping morning brushing

Skipping a morning brushing session could be even worse than skipping a nighttime brushing session since you will likely wait all day to brush your teeth at night.

Your bad breath will become progressively worse

Even if you brushed your teeth at night, some oral bacteria may still have multiplied in your mouth overnight. So even if your breath doesn't smell so bad when you wake up, the bacteria you failed to remove will gradually multiply throughout the day. This means your breath will only get worse as the day goes on.

Plaque will gradually cover your teeth and tongue

Plaque contributes to tooth decay and gum disease since it is acidic. Not removing the plaque that formed on your teeth overnight means that your teeth and tongue will end up with a thick layer of plaque by day's end.

Your teeth and tongue will appear yellow or white

When plaque is abundant, your teeth and tongue will appear yellowish in colour. This is bad news if you spend all day working alongside other people.

Food won't taste as good

If plaque covers your tongue and your taste buds, your lunch and dinner won't taste as good as they should.

For more information, contact a dentist in your area.

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