Am I the only one who gags when brushing teeth?

[laurajayneinkent]

Brushing my teeth makes me gag/retch and almost throw up. It didn't use to; I think it's because my wisdom teeth are now 'fully grown'. Either that or something to do with hormones: I only started noticing this in the last approx 3 years (my daughters are 3 & 6). Anyone else have this? Any advice? It's making me miserable.

I don't gag but i do feel the need to pee when i brush my teeth. It's not because of the running water.

It’s morning for me too. I find drinking some water first helps - think it’s the dry mouth/throat that makes my gag reflex more trigger-happy.

Me too, only ever in the morning and only ever if I drank too much the night before, which fits with the dehydration theory.

I find the mucus going from my nose down the back of my throat makes me gag when I'm brushing my teeth in the mornings. Fine in the evenings.

Me too every morning and started when I was pregnant. Bizzarely I am glad I found my tribe!!!! Gonna try not opening my mouth so wide. I will let you know how I get on.

I get this too, and also only since pregnancy. I reckon my gag reflex was affected by morning sickness and became more sensitive then.

Me too, I now use a child sized toothbrush and a teeny amount of toothpaste.

Aaaand meeee. Definitely only in the morning too. And only started when I was pg- haven’t been pg for over 14 years now. Huh. In my head it’s only been a year or two...

Mamaryllis denial is not just a river in Egypt!

And me too, also only since being pregnant. Youngest will be 6 this year.

Will be trying some of the ideas here, thank you.

Have you considered you may have oral thrush? Much more common than you think and often overlooked. You can buy an over the counter gel, but swishing actimel twice a day worked for me. Now no more gagging when brushing!!!

I gag if I drank the night before or if it's very minty toothpaste.

I started doing this when pg and suffering form 'morning' sickness. I suspect I developed a stronger gag reflex at that time. It faded with time - and I bought toothbrushes that had shorter bristles too hoping they wouldn't feel so big at the back of my mouth, which seemed to work.