Teeth and vomiting

[crooked rory]

Well, I did it again, spent the weekend in bed with a garbage can next to me. I'll spare further details except that no alcohol or drugs were involved, just food. Anyway, when you vomit, is just rinsing with water good enough to cover you until you next brush your teeth, or should you get up out of bed and brush every time? I seem to get sick like that a lot (like 1 time a month), and am concerned that it will damage my teeth. I really do not want my teeth to look like I am bulimic.

[Jano]

Oh dear ! I read your post and felt so sorry for you . I dont know anything about the damage vomiting can cause our teeth , but I just googled it and found a site that says this :
It is very important to not brush your teeth after vomiting. While it takes the taste away it can cause extra damage to the teeth by damaging the surface crystals on the enamel layer of the teeth. The best option is to wash your mouth out with plenty of water and wait several hours before brushing your teeth or eating anything acidic such as fruit or fizzy drink. This allows the saliva to neutralise the stomach acid which seeps into the surface enamel after vomiting. Brushing your teeth destroys the protective layer of enamel, making it easier for the acid to attack it.

If you absolutely must brush your teeth, just use a brush dipped in water, avoid toothpaste, especially smokers toothpaste.

You can also minimise the effects of the acid by eating cheese or drinking milk

Maybe some our the technical /sciency people in the forum out there can verify this ?
Hope you are feeling better soon .

[ashesgap]

I had the stomach flu a few months ago, and couldn't stand the taste of toothpaste for days. I didn't brush the first day, just rinsed with water when I manage to drag myself to the bathroom. The second day I lightly brushed with a regular toothbrush. The third day I used my oral-b without toothpaste, and used mouthwash. Still with all that my teeth are fine.
Same thing happens when I have a migraine...cause brushing hurts my head too much.

[Harriet]

I read somewhere that sucking on one of those tablets meant to help with heartburn and acid reflux (like gaviscon here in the uk) helps neutralise the acid. Would probably be easier than milk or cheese if your feeling sick.

[BracedInNOLA]

Vomiting once a month seems excessive to me. I'd recommend seeing your primary care physician to see if you can pinpoint a cause/prevention.

[Ringworm139]

I had a lot of stomach problems when I was younger and I threw up pretty regularly. That's mostly cleared up but I still have terrible acid reflux. Unfortunately, it has caused a lot of erosion and damage to my teeth. You can see areas on my teeth where the enamel has worn away, but luckily it seems to be somewhat correctable.

[sirwired]

Fluoride can be a BIG help here to re-mineralize your teeth. You may want to ask your general dentist or ortho for a prescription fluoride gel or rinse. I could see mouthwash (for the taste/smell), followed by fluoride rinse, followed an hour later by a couple of well-chewed Tums to be a help.

But yes, don't touch those teeth with a toothbrush or toothpaste for at least a couple of hours.

[belistic10]

good topic, i experienced this for the first time last night, not fun!! i felt so crappy (from migraine) that i just rinsed with mouth wash and dragged myself back to bed.