Dental Nation✦Protocols · No. 01

Tonight’s Protocol

Most of your tooth decay happens while you sleep.

The Nighttime Routine for Total Oral Health — the ten minutes before bed that protect your teeth all night.

~0
saliva flow while you sleep
5.5
the pH where enamel dissolves
10min
to protect your whole night
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Dental Nation✦Oral Care · 02

Why It Matters

Your mouth’s defence switches off at night.

Saliva clears away food, neutralises acid, and helps rebuild enamel. While you sleep, it slows to almost nothing.

So any leftover sugar keeps feeding acid for hours — with nothing to wash it away or repair the damage.

The fixGo to bed clean, coated in fluoride, with nothing left to feed on.

Source: NHS · British Dental Journal — saliva & oral health

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Dental Nation✦The Protocol · 03

The Protocol

The whole routine, in six steps.

1
Finish eating & drinking. The night brush comes last.
2
Clean between your teeth. Interdental brush; floss for tight gaps.
3
Brush 2 minutes with fluoride. Soft bristles, gentle, every surface.
4
Spit, don’t rinse. Leave the fluoride working overnight.
5
Optional: tongue scrape. One light pass, back to front.
6
Water only. Nothing else until morning.
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Dental Nation✦Key Rule · 04

The one rule most people get wrong

Spit. Don’t rinse.

Rinsing with water — or mouthwash — right after brushing washes the protective fluoride straight off your teeth.

Spit out the foam and stop. If you love a mouthwash, use it at a different time of day.

Source: NHS · BMC Oral Health (2022) — salivary fluoride after brushing

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Dental Nation✦Mythbuster · 05

Mythbuster

Three things to stop tonight.

×
Charcoal toothpaste. Abrasive, no proven whitening, and often contains no fluoride.
×
Mouth taping. Unproven for oral health — and risky if your nose is ever blocked.
×
Rinsing after brushing. Washes away the fluoride you just applied.
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Dental Nation✦Personalise · 06

Make It Yours

Adjust it for your mouth.

Kids
Pea-size fluoride toothpaste, supervise brushing to about age 7, and no sugary bottle in bed.
Braces & aligners
Add a water flosser and interdental brushes to clean around brackets and wires.
Dry mouth
Sip water through the night. If a medication is the cause, tell your dentist.
Grinding
Jaw ache, worn teeth, or morning headaches? Ask about a night guard.
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Dental Nation✦Red Flags · 07

Don’t self-manage these

When to see a dentist.

✓Gums that keep bleeding
✓Tooth sensitivity that lingers
✓Signs of grinding — jaw pain, worn or cracked teeth
✓White or brown spots on teeth
✓Persistent dry mouth or bad breath
✓Anything that hurts
A good routine prevents most problems. A check-up catches the rest.
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Dental Nation✦Protocols · 08

Dental Nation Protocols

Clean. Fluoride-coated. Fed nothing overnight. That’s the whole game.

Book a Check-updentalnation.com

Next week — The Whitening Protocol

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