Quick Summary
Surfactants like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) in toothpaste suppress your sweet taste receptors and enhance bitter flavors, making foods taste blander or more sour immediately after brushing. The effect fades after about 30 minutes as your saliva dilutes the surfactants and restores normal taste perception.
Key Takeaways
- Wait approximately 30 minutes after brushing before eating or drinking to allow your saliva to dilute surfactants and restore normal taste.
- Rearrange your morning routine so you eat breakfast after other activities like reading or getting dressed rather than immediately after brushing.
- Understand that SLS in toothpaste suppresses sweet receptors while enhancing bitter flavors, which is why orange juice tastes particularly unpleasant after brushing.
- Ask your dentist if you have questions about how your morning oral hygiene routine affects taste or if you want recommendations for alternative toothpastes.
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED why certain foods taste unpleasant after brushing your teeth in the morning? Most of us have experienced that bitter sensation a time or two, but what exactly causes it?
Your Mint Toothpaste Flavor Isn’t To Blame
It’s a common misconception that mint-flavored toothpaste causes an unpleasant taste when eating that first meal after brushing. In reality, it’s a chemical found in most toothpaste called sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) or other variants like sodium Laureth sulfate (SLES). These compounds are known as surfactants, which are foaming agents which make it easier to spread toothpaste evenly as you brush.
Aside from helping toothpaste clean your teeth, surfactants also affect your tastebuds.
Surfactants Affect Your Tastebuds
Surfactants like SLS affect your tastebuds in a couple of different ways. First, it suppresses receptors that pick up the sweet taste in food and drinks. This is why some foods just taste a little blander if you’ve recently brushed your teeth. The second way surfactants affect your taste is it enhances bitter flavors, so sour food and drinks taste especially bitter.
This effect is especially noticeable in orange juice. Believe it or not, your morning glass of OJ is actually surprisingly sour if you take away the sugar. So when you take a sip of orange juice after brushing your teeth, not only will SLS inhibit your ability to taste your drink’s sweetness, it will enhance the underlying sour flavor and make it really bitter.
Don’t Worry, It Doesn’t Last Long!
Fortunately for us, the effects of SLS don’t linger too long in the morning. After about 30 minutes, your saliva will have diluted the leftover surfactants and things begin to taste normal again. In order to avoid the unpleasant taste after you brush, take a little time to read the paper or accomplish another to-do’s in your regular morning routine before you eat. Rearranging morning activities is an easy way to help your breakfast taste sweet!
We Have A Pretty Sweet Gig
We love making our patients smile at McOmie Family Dentistry. Whether it’s through fun tips like this or answering questions about your unique oral health situation, our priority is keeping your teeth happy and healthy. Do you have any more questions about how your morning oral hygiene routine? We’d love to answer them! Call us at 423-899-1112 or let us know in the comments below!
