Dr. Katie ToThe Wellness Dentist, CEO and Founder of Center for Wellness Dentistry and Wellness Dentist Institute.

I'm a Dentist and I Don't Brush First Thing

15 Feb 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:41

In this short YouTube monologue, Dr. Katie To explains why she, as a dentist, waits 30 minutes after waking before brushing her teeth. She argues that brushing immediately moves overnight‑accumulated bacteria and toxins around, so she first performs tongue scraping to remove the coating, then does oil pulling while getting ready, and drinks water to hydrate. By the time she finally brushes, her mouth is prepared, which she says improves her energy, freshens her breath, and enhances how she presents herself to patients. She encourages viewers to try tongue scraping before brushing the next morning and offers to share her preferred tongue‑scraper tools.

Chapters

I'm a dentist and I don't touch my toothbrush for the first 30 minutes of my day. So crazy, right? Most people wake up and immediately brush. But here's the problem with that. Overnight your mouth builds up bacteria and toxins. If you brush first thing, you just moving that around. So I tongue scrape first to remove that coating. Then I oil pull for a few minutes while I'm getting. Then I drink water to hydrate. By the time I brush, my mouth is actually ready for it. This one shift changed my energy, my breath, and honestly, how I show up for my patient. Try tongue scraping. Tomorrow morning before you brush, come and scrape and I'll send you my favorite ones.