The most common answer to this question is brush before drinking, and the argument is that coffee is acidic which leaves teeth enamel more exposed to damage. One should apparently wait at least 30 minutes after drinking and before brushing. Or something along those lines.

What all these articles seem to ignore is that brushing before drinking also negatively impacts taste perception due to active substances in the toothpaste, so your mouth feels "fresh", but coffee (and food in general) tastes funny if consumed immediately after brushing.

How do you solve this conundrum?

For starters... Have a small biscuit/cracker to mitigate the taste. A Biscoff is perfect.

However... Is the pH level of coffee really that much of a concern in the discussion? I mean, sure coffee is somewhat acidic but is it so much so that you have to wait to brush? I've never seen that so am curious to see some studies on it. Our own saliva has a pH around 6, right? And coffee is around 5. Is that enough acid to be of concern here?

Brush after makes more sense to me. Just not right away. The standard recommendation is to wait half an hour or more after a meal before brushing. I suppose it really depends on what you ate but who measures the acidity of their mouth after a meal? So wait a little.

If you can't wait... brush anyway. What do dentists really know?

jpender wrote:What do dentists really know?

Some say before, some say after .. because there are good arguments for both.
I'd rather brush before, to better be able to enjoy the aftertaste. But still searching for a toothpaste that won't ruin the flavor. In the meantime I wait much more than 30 minutes after drinking to brush, or vice versa.

For what its worth if you use a SLS free toothpaste it wreaks less havoc on your taste buds. I brush before. I rinse well with water and my coffee tastes fine.

This is a joke right?

If you plan on seriously tasting ANYTHING never brush your teeth before.

Somewhere someone is developing $18/tube toothpaste that enhances morning espresso.