The best time to brush your teeth, eat breakfast and set your alarm – and why it matters

Dentists claim that using your toothbrush straight after breakfast could destroy the enamel on your teeth. So what other timings are we getting wrong in our daily routine?

Set your alarm

7.22am

We’ve all heard of entrepreneurs and fitness fanatics who wake at dawn to work out or hit their desks. Should you do the same? Maybe not. A study by the University of Westminster found that people who woke between 5.22am and 7.21am had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol than those who slept later. They were also more likely to suffer from muscle aches, colds and headaches, and had worse moods.

This may be because they miss out on sleep, or because they are working against their chronotype – the genetically programmed tendency to be either a late-to-bed owl or an early-rising lark. Dr Neil Stanley, an independent sleep expert and the author of How to Sleep Well, says that while a 7am wake time is likely to be practical for most people, “a recent study shows that the most important thing for longevity, even more than duration of sleep, is consistency of wake time.” This means, he says, that we should try to wake up at the same time, “plus or minus one hour”, every day, even at weekends.   

Brush your teeth

Before breakfast

You might habitually reach for your toothbrush to scrub away toast crumbs and ensure a clean start to the day. But, says dentist Dr Shaadi Manouchehri, you could also be scouring away your precious dental enamel. She says that when we eat, the natural bacteria in our mouths produce acid to break down the sugar in food. 

“So, if you brush your teeth, you are rubbing that acid on the tooth which is a mineral and it can wear it down,” she says. If you hate the idea of heading out without sparkling gnashers, either eat earlier so you can wait until an hour after eating before brushing or brush your teeth first.