Brushing Lips with a Toothbrush: Does It Exfoliate? – Healthline

Dental Advices Provided to you by: Brite Medical Center
The next time you’re brushing your teeth, you may also want to try brushing your lips.
Brushing your lips with a soft toothbrush can help exfoliate flaking skin and may help prevent chapped lips. It also has the potential to stimulate blood flow and may give your lips a smoother appearance.
In this article, we’re going to look at the benefits of scrubbing your lips with a toothbrush and the best methods to avoid irritation.
Lightly brushing your lips with a toothbrush and an exfoliant may be a good way to remove dead skin from your lips. However, it’s important to be gentle when brushing.
The skin on your lips is thin and sensitive. Unlike most other parts of your body, your lips don’t produce oil to keep them moist. It may be tempting to frequently lick your lips when they start to feel dry. Frequently licking your lips can make them irritated.
Over-brushing or over-exfoliating your lips can also make them dry. It may be a good idea to limit brushing your lips to once a week.
To brush your lips, all you need is a toothbrush with soft bristles and an exfoliant. You may also want to apply a moisturizer like coconut oil or olive oil after exfoliating.
You can make natural exfoliants using household ingredients like baking soda, oatmeal, coffee grounds, or even toothpaste. The purpose of the exfoliant is to cause gentle friction against your lips to rub off dead skin.
Here’s how you can brush your lips:
Stop immediately if you feel any irritation when exfoliating your lips.
If you’re prone to chapped lips, it isn’t a good idea to use products that contain the ingredients below. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, these ingredients have the potential to further dry your lips:
Brushing your lips with toothpaste may be gentler than using other exfoliants. However, it’s a good idea to rinse the toothpaste off after brushing your lips to avoid irritation and dryness.
Toothpaste additives and flavors may cause allergic reactions in some people. Symptoms including peeling lips and sores in the corners of your mouth.
There’s no evidence that brushing your lips will make them permanently bigger. Brushing your lips might cause a temporary increase in blood flow. However, brushing your lips for the purpose of trying to make your lips fuller will likely irritate your skin.
The following habits have the potential to help you maintain healthy-looking lips:
You may find that brushing your lips causes irritation and cracked skin. Instead of using a toothbrush to brush your lips, you can also apply a small amount of exfoliant and gently rub your lips with the tip of your finger.
You may also want to avoid exfoliating and stick to products that have the potential to moisturize and soothe chapped lips, such as:
Gently brushing your lips with a toothbrush may help you get rid of dry skin and give your lips a smoother appearance. However, over-exfoliating can irritate the delicate skin over your lip. It’s a good idea to brush your lips no more than once a week to avoid irritation.
You can try adopting the following habits to prevent getting dry lips:
Last medically reviewed on February 7, 2020
Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
Current Version
Feb 7, 2020
Written By
Daniel Yetman
Edited By
Roman Gokhman
Medically Reviewed By
Cynthia Cobb, DNP, APRN
Copy Edited By
Anne Arntson
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