Q: What is the best time to brush your teeth?
問：什麼時候刷牙最好?
Answered by Scott Frey
Scott Frey的回覆：
The best time to brush your teeth isin the morning before breakfast.However, it certainly isn't the only time you should brush throughout the day.
早飯之前刷牙最好，但一天肯定不止刷這一次。
There are several reasons for this:
原因有以下幾點：
1. Salivary calcium levels are lowest in the morning. Thus, your teeth are at a much higher risk of acidic damage from bacteria and dietary acids in the morning than at any other time. Brushing kickstarts salivary flow that has been reduced overnight and adds in fluoride to the mix which will help buffer against acids.
早上唾液中的鈣含量最低。因此，牙齒受細菌和酸性食物傷害的風險是一天中最高的。刷牙能讓前一晚減少的唾液加速分泌，並且，牙膏裡的氟化物與唾液混合後，能夠有效減緩酸性傷害。
2. Bacteria take seconds to begin to metabolize sugars into acids. Clearing them out before the introduction of food makes far more sense than brushing after they have already soaked up sugars and produced acids especially considering point #1.
細菌只用幾秒鐘就能讓糖份開始代謝為酸性物質。吃東西前就把細菌清理乾淨，要比它們已經大量攝取糖分，並產生酸性物質後再刷牙明智得多，尤其是在考慮到第一點的情況下。
3. Bacteria have been multiplying overnight in an environment characterized by reduced salivary flow.
夜間唾液分泌減少，經過一整晚，細菌已在口腔內大量繁殖。
4. Acidic foods and drinks will soften your enamel and make you teeth more vulnerable to toothbrush abrasion if brushing immediately after meals. Toothbrush abrasion and erosion are becoming increasingly common so we need to pay greater mind. Scrubbing on your teeth when your enamel has been softened up by something like OJ will lead to toothbrush abrasion and increased sensitivity of your teeth.
酸性食物和飲料會軟化牙釉質，如果飯後立刻刷牙，牙齒會更容易受到牙刷的磨損。如今，牙刷造成的磨損和侵蝕變得越來越普遍，我們應該多加重視。牙釉質被橙汁之類的東西軟化時，用力刷牙會導致牙磨損，讓你的牙齒更加敏感。
The process of enamel demineralization occurs much more rapidly than remineralization,so it is extremely important to take steps to limit the extent of demineralization throughout the day so your teeth can recover.
牙釉質脫礦的速度比再礦化的速度快得多。所以在一整天中，採取措施減少牙釉質受損極為重要，這樣牙齒才有時間自我修復。
If the issue is how toothpaste impacts your appreciation for breakfast, use a SLS-free toothpaste because SLS affects your tastebuds and makes things taste odd (you should be using an SLS-free toothpaste for other reasons).
如果問題在於牙膏影響了你早餐的食慾，那就使用不含硫酸月桂酸鈉(SLS)的牙膏吧。硫酸月桂酸鈉會影響你的味蕾，東西吃起來味道就怪怪的。出於其他一些原因，你也應該使用不含硫酸月桂酸鈉的牙膏。