A reader named Nancy wrote in this week with a question I’ve heard in different forms for years:
“What order do you actually use your stuff?”
It’s been almost a year since I last walked you through my before-noon routine. This week I’m keeping it simple: no tip, no study, no long dive—just the full morning sequence in order, with references to the products I use.
1. First, before anything else: a big glass of water with electrolytes. I stir a measured scoop of the cleanest, best-tasting electrolyte I’ve found into a full glass of filtered water. It’s just minerals to rehydrate after eight hours of sleep and to restore the minerals that saliva needs to remineralize enamel, buffer acids, and help control cavity-causing bacteria.
Saliva is mostly water, but those minerals matter. If you saw my earlier piece about the one thing I put in my water every morning, this is the same routine I still follow.
2. Then the stationary bike. Ten to fifteen minutes of easy pedaling—not for calories, but for circulation and for a quiet window of time before the day starts asking things of me. If the bike doesn’t happen, I substitute a long stretch. Same purpose: gentle movement to wake the body and mind.
3. Next, the oral care block—before any coffee or breakfast, and in this order: tongue scrape → floss → a 1–3 minute swish with an MCT oil blend (the one with CoQ10) → brush with my fluoride-free toothpaste, then spit and don’t rinse so the toothpaste remains on the enamel.
I’ll die on this hill: brushing after coffee, fruit, or most breakfasts scrubs softened enamel and accelerates recession, sensitivity, and discoloration. If you absolutely must brush after eating, wait 30–45 minutes to let enamel recover.
4. Then breakfast outside, if the weather allows. Two soft-boiled pastured eggs, a cappuccino shared with Roseann, and morning sunlight—getting natural light to your eyes within an hour of waking helps set your circadian rhythm and starts the melatonin clock that supports deep sleep about 14 hours later.
I came to coffee relatively late—my first proper sip was on a milestone trip—and it’s become a pleasant ritual. At home we pull two shots on our machine, use A2 milk for digestibility, and keep a glass of mineral water nearby to rinse between sips. Milk proteins make pigment more likely to stick to enamel, which is one reason I like doing the oil swish before coffee: it helps reduce that sticking.
5. By mid-morning I have green tea. This is a tea I recommend because it’s been screened for contaminants; low-quality teas can have heavy metals, which is a real issue. I enjoy a packet brewed in hot water with nothing added. It’s an EGCG-rich beverage I’ve written about before and one I look forward to each day.
I’ll save the nighttime routine for another post. There’s one thing in that evening sequence that genuinely surprised me, and I’ll share the answer to the most-asked question next time.
Warmly,
Dr. B
Want to go deeper on any of this?
Should You Brush Before or After Breakfast? — a longer explanation of why I recommend brushing before breakfast.
Tongue Scraping: 6 Reasons to Scrape Your Tongue — if you want to understand exactly why it’s so helpful.
Oil Pulling: How to Oil Pull — a full how-to, including tips I wish I’d known when I started.
Coenzyme Q10: What You Need to Know — the science behind why gum tissue benefits from it.
What I Wish More People Knew About Green Tea and Your Mouth — how green tea helps beyond basic antioxidants.