Does brushing your teeth immediately after sleeping have some medical significance?
Context:
I have generally only brushed my teeth once-a-day, before going to bed.
My dentist has advised to start brushing twice a day, adding "immediately in the morning" to my dental routine.
I don't eat breakfast in the morning, and told the dentist that, and they confirmed that first thing in the morning was still the recommendation.
I didn't press them more, but now wish that I had done so.
I would have assumed that (generally speaking) brushing at 12-hourly intervals would be the more beneficial than brushing twice, 8 hours apart, and then not brushing for 16 hours.
Since I go to bed at ~11:30pm, therefore if I'm going to brush again, and I don't eat breakfast, then I'm better off brushing around 11:00am, or just before lunch.
I can see 2 possibilities for why that might not be the case:
Physiological: Sleep does something to the mouth, that means it's beneficial to clean it immediately after waking.
Psychological: In practice, people are more successful at adding steps to a morning routine, so if they're told to do it 1st-thing, then they're more likely to actually do it. Hence, if I think I can reliably do it in the late morning, then I should do that, instead.
The latter seems very likely to be true.
But is the former option also true?
Is there any medical significance to brushing your teeth after waking up, if you're not going to eat until lunch?
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The NHS says (emphasis mine)
Brush your teeth for about 2 minutes last thing at night before you go to bed and on 1 other occasion every day.
They don't specifically stipulate as soon as you get up or after breakfast, but brushing in the morning is important because
during the night, the formation of plaque is mostly undisturbed. Brushing after each meal is also endorsed by many dentists.
However, be careful when you brush. It is best to brush after meals, but the British Oral Health Foundation says:
Every time you eat or drink anything acidic, the enamel on your teeth becomes softer for a short while, and loses some of its mineral content. Your saliva will slowly cancel out this acidity in your mouth and get it back to its natural balance.
[...]
Wait for at least one hour after eating or drinking anything acidic before brushing your teeth. This gives your teeth time to build up their mineral content again.
Brushing immediately afterward wears
the enamel away, and can cause dental erosion, which may lead to pain and extreme sensitivity in the teeth.
Whenever you brush your teeth, don't rinse your mouth with water after because you will rinse away the fluoride provided by the toothpaste used, flushing away the preventative nature of toothpaste.
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