A dentist has explained he simple and common mistakes people make before and after an appointment - including drinks and food you should be avoiding. D. Khaled Kasem, chief orthodontist at Impress, has spoken to The Mirror about things you should do before your visit to the dentist and what you should avoid doing after the appointment.
Dr Kasem says you should brush your teeth before seeing a dentist. He said: "It's really important that you brush your teeth and avoid eating certain types of food beforehand, like garlic.
"Before coming in, you should also avoid drinking beverages like coffee, tea, Coke and red wine as these can all stain your teeth."
You should also avoid some drinks after an appointment. Dr Khaled said: "Try to avoid having acidic drinks like orange juice or soda as these can really affect the teeth."
The biggest mistake you could make is to have a drink like orange juice and then brush your teeth immediately afterward, as you can lose essential minerals and this in turn may weaken the enamel.
"Try to avoid brushing your teeth after drinking an acidic beverage because this would be like brushing the acid from the drink into your teeth," said Dr. Kasem.
"There is a phase when you drink an acidic beverage, this is what we call demineralisation and this is where minerals are removed from the teeth. Following this, the saliva would then do what we call remineralisation and this will help put back the minerals in the teeth.
"If you brush your teeth before the remineralisation stage takes place, you'll avoid this phase, so usually it's a good idea to wait for half an hour to an hour after consuming acidic food and drink before brushing your teeth."
The dentist also urges people to brush their teeth twice a day for at least two minutes each time, but for even longer at night if possible.
This is so that the fluoride in your toothpaste, which helps prevent tooth decay, can work all through the night while you're asleep.
