Post-brushing rinsing for the control of dental caries: exploration of the available evidence to establish what advice we should give our patients

Key Points Raises awareness of the potential for post-tooth brushing rinsing behaviours to either reduce or enhance the effectiveness of fluoride toothpaste. Highlights the lack of high-quality evidence to support guidance for post-tooth brushing rinsing behaviours. Provides recommendations for post-tooth brushing rinsing behaviour based on consensus views of dental experts. Post-tooth brushing rinsing behaviours have the potential to either reduce or enhance the effectiveness of fluoride toothpaste and show wide variation in the general population. There is a lack of high-quality evidence to support definitive guidance in this area. However, the currently available international guidelines provide consistent recommendations despite the limited evidence. To explore the available evidence base and recommendations on optimal post-brushing rinsing behaviour relating to the use of both water and mouth rinses, a meeting was held between the authors and other experts. This paper reports the consensus views of those present at the meeting concerning what advice we should give our patients. A full list of meeting attendees is provided at the end of this article.