Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » Why does orange juice taste so bad after brushing your teeth?

October 24, 2006

Why does orange juice taste so bad after brushing your teeth?

Why does orange juice taste so bad after brushing your teeth? Ok, those that have never experienced this go try it. You will discover why I still remember learning that orange juice and toothpaste didn’t mix when I was a kid. Isn’t it great that I can stumble across answers to questions I had forgotten I asked

David Cannell is the scientific spokesperson for Questacon, “It’s because of a certain ingredient in toothpaste called sodium laurel sulfate. It actually blocks sweet sensors. All the other taste bud cells in your mouth are firing away nicely, but the receptors which pick up the sweet sensors are not working anymore. Not only does it block the sweet sensors, it enhances the sour and bitter, so you get this massive influx of sour and bitter taste coming through the mouth.”

David says tastebuds are a very interesting part of the body, “They’re the little bumps on the top of your tongue. They look like a tiny onion, if you look at it with a high powered microscope. Each tastebud, which we have about ten thousand of, has about fifty different taste cells.”

Just imagine what we will find with the better internet that China is building?

by curiouscat Tags: Life Science, Students
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2 Responses to “Why does orange juice taste so bad after brushing your teeth?”

Justin H Says:
October 24th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
Very interesting and amusing… It prompted me to search the Internet for a question I’ve had since I was a kid, namely “Why is it that you never see baby pigeons?” –> http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon970905/skinnyon.html
Anonymous Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I guess I’ve been lucky to never actually drink Orange Juice after brushing my teeth. Of course I’m a big Apple Juice fan. This question and answer reminds me of Alton Brown on the Food Network. He was discussing last night that scientists argue over what makes ice cream taste better when the ingredients are getting chilled below 40 degrees for 8 hours before they freeze it below 32 degrees. Scientists still have much to learn in the food world.