How often do you brush your teeth? Sure, we’ve all been told the ‘twice-a-day’ , but how many of us strictly follow it?
Are there any cultures out there with alternative practices that still maintain good oral health?
I’m intrigued to hear your brushing habits, thoughts on this, and any interesting findings you’ve stumbled upon.
A lot of y’all are clearly not as depressed as I am. It has been a struggle most of my adult life to force myself to brush my teeth. It’s something I’ve gotten much better at lately, and I’ve luckily not had any serious dental issues yet. But I’m shocked that no one else has said they struggle with it. Y’all are inspirations.
I made this post, because I have gone through anxious and depressive states where I have completely overlooked it for weeks.
Sometimes it just falls from the priority list. Can be hard enough getting out of bed some days.
It may seem like a simple little thing. But often they are the hardest.
✌️💛
Doesn’t your mouth taste bad if you just don’t do it regularly? Honestly even general hygiene concerns aside, I’d do it twice a day just to get the fresh feeling. Maybe you could try some different toothpastes to find one that makes you really want to do it and not just feel like it’s something you should do?
You ever been tested for ADHD? This could be a symptom of that.
Wow I never connected this with anxiety/depression but that makes a lot of sense now that I hear it.
I didn’t go to the dentist and didn’t brush my teeth but for maybe the occasional time or for a spurt of a week or two here and there for about the last 15 years, starting in college. I always thought I was special because my teeth didn’t seem to know the difference and my mouth “felt” better. It wasn’t until about a year ago when I had a moler snap in half while eating dinner that I realized I might have an issue. I went to the dentist to have that replaced and was told I needed to make a change or this would keep happening.
I’ve now managed to get myself back on the habit of brushing at least once a day, usually before bed. My mouth hated it at first but after the first month or so it was so much better. I can’t believe I let myself go like I did…
During my more depressive episodes my dental hygiene seriously suffered, and due to covid I didn’t go to my bi-annual checkup. Last summer I got a sudden and extremely painful toothache, and it turned out my teeth could make swiss cheese jealous. I ended up having to have one of my molars pulled (I had to expedite the process a bit after it literally started falling apart), two root canals (one of which I still haven’t had), and a fuckton of small holes to fill. The whole ordeal ended up being really painful and expensive. I’m still not as on top of it as I should wish, but I found that buying an electric toothbrush made it a lot easier, and I also force myself to brush at least every morning. The pain and debt are also good motivators…
Years of depression put me in a spot where I had multiple huge face-swelling problems. Brushing is an afterthought when you hate life and want to die. I hope you’re doing well.
I also wrote something like that.
Somebody really needs to figure out a better way to do this.
I’m right there with you.
I’ve had good and bad periods of my life, with regard to how well I treat my teeth.
Currently trying to curb a bad period. Brushing daily is a struggle.
I put out reminders and set alarms on my phone.
But depression is a hell of a thing and it can honestly be surprising when I realize it’s been a week of ignoring my alarms and reminders.
My hygienist has been thoughtful about my mental health situation. But I always feel terrible before a trip to the dentist.
I was once a flossing consistently, bruising 2-3 times a day rope guy.
Trying to get back there. But everything is up hill and some things suffer.
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Brush in the morning to keep your friends, brush at night to keep your teeth.
Fucking hell there’s a lot of dedicated people here, or a lot of liars.
I’ve been unable to build any kind of oral hygiene routine my entire life. My parents were absentee parents so I never built the habit when I was young. I’ve had major bouts of depression my whole life, I was only recently diagnosed ADHD, and in general am shit at any routines, and on top of that I never have tooth/gum pain to remind me to brush and the dentist doesn’t hurt/bother me. Even having been in the military didn’t establish any kind of routine. But I’ve definitely paid for it. I don’t know how many thousands of dollars worth of crowns I have, and I know it’s just a matter of time before I have to pay for bridges/implants.
It literally just doesn’t occur to me that it’s a thing unless I am specifically reminded externally and do it immediately. I’ve tried reminder apps, notes on the bathroom mirror, Alexa reminders, but they all become background noise after a while.
Gotta say I feel you. I’m terrible at following through on things/routines and end up disrupting or doing multiple things at once. Funny trend from my experience though is that I remember maybe a decade ago or more the mantra was still 3 times a day. I strive for 2 times but somedays I just knock the fuck out.
At least you are going to the dentist. My uncle was not brushing his teeth. And never to the dentist. Eventually they had to remove all of his teeth because it was all infected and it was too unbearable for him.
I had a depression period of my life where I was doing the worst possible treatment to my teeth - was eating a lot of sugar and would skip brushing here and there; also I was not brushing effectively. My teeth are not in very good condition right now. I wish I had kept a good mouth hygiene even when I was depressed.
i’ve been depressed my entire life and my dental hygiene used to be atrocious as a kid. these days, in my late 20s, i typically brush once a day in the morning and mouthwash before bed because the day takes a lot out of me energy wise and brushing my teeth ends up feeling like a monumental task. i go to the dentist every 3 to 4 months so more than the average person, but my insurance covers it. i use an electric toothbrush. i’ve only had one cavity and have all of my teeth including my wisdom teeth because they’re not damaged and don’t have cavities.
Many people fail to think about the depression and lack of brushing. I too am in the same boat. Turns out my meds are even making my teeth soft no matter what i do…
sending love to you
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You just leave the house in the morning like that?
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I brush twice a day. I had a kind of gross moment that forced the habit. One day I looked up microscopic pictures of teeth. Normal teeth kind of look like a cool lattice structure under a microscope. Non-brushed teeth… the bacteria looked SO disgusting. I do not want that in my mouth…
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Only once per day, in the evening before bed. I have done it all my life(except when I was a kid) and it seems to work for me. Never had any issue with my teeth, at all. I know I should probably do it in the morning aswell, but I cant bother since what I do now works…
My gf used to not brush her teeth in the morning and it stank pretty bad, still I was the first to tell her. Chances are, people arent telling you either.
My wife is pretty sensitive to smells, so I’m sure she would tell me if that were the case. Also, I practise intermittent fasting, so I don’t eat anything before lunch, maybe that helps…
The brushing just before bed is the most important one, so you picked a good bare minimum to uphold. No shade, just curious: how old are your teeth?
I’m 35 years old, I guess teeth slightly younger!
I’m not the guy, but I’d like to challange my English by talking about this topic. I brush my teeth on a “when I remember to” or “when it’s really dirty”. so like twice weekly probably. If I need to apear tidy I ofc brush before it. the only problem with my teeth is that they are not straight, very all over the place actually (hope fully I can get braces soon). Regarding cleannes, (to my knowladge) all my teeth are fine, except of a bit of tartar (hopefully correct word, the hard stuff that acumilates and sticks to your teeth) on two of my teeth. The scary part is thst the dentists I’ve been to did not say anything about it, which leaves me to think they didn’t even see it, that leaves me again to, what else didn’t they notice? The thing that I notice and hints that I should brush is the frequent canker sores (again, let’s hope the right word, little annoying ass white spots that, apears, hurts than dips)
TL;DR: fine, nothing unfixable, minor annoyance
I’m not the guy, but I’d like to challange my English by talking about this topic.
I vibe with that. I’ve been trying to learn a new language as well, so let me try and provide you with the kind of direct feedback that I wish more people would give me. Overall your writing is good enough that I would believe you were a native speaker, albeit a sloppy one. To take your writing to the next level, here’s what I’d change:
I brush my teeth on a “when I remember to” or “when it’s really dirty”. so like twice weekly probably.
This can be rephrased slightly into a more natural expression:
I brush my teeth on a “when I remember”/“when it’s really dirty” basis, so like twice weekly probably
Why: Saying that you do something “on a X basis” is a very common pattern for this type of expression. I switched to using “/” instead of “or” here to because this particular pattern is so strongly fixed that we can’t add extra words to it without sounding unnatural. I also combined the sentences together because one single compound sentence is generally more pleasing than two simple ones.
except of a bit of tartar (hopefully correct word, the hard stuff that acumilates and sticks to your teeth)
Yup, that’s exactly the right word. It would have also been acceptable for you to say “gunk”, since “tartar” is a specialized word that not everyone will know.
The scary part is thst the dentists I’ve been to did not say anything about it, which leaves me to think they didn’t even see it, that leaves me again to, what else didn’t they notice?
You’ve made excellent use of the trailing question mark! This is exactly the right tone for what I believe you were going for here, though your verb tenses are a little mixed up. Here’s what I’d change to bring the tenses back into alignment:
The scary part is that the dentists I’ve seen haven’t said anything about it, which leaves me to think they didn’t even see it. It makes me wonder what else they didn’t notice?
Why Part 1: You’ve combined “I’ve been to” (present perfect tense) with “did not say” (past tense) inside of the same clause. Mismatches like this sound quite bad because native speakers have a strong intuition for tense construction. Here the issue is fixed by simply changing the entire clause into the past tense, though we could have just as easily done the opposite and made the whole clause present perfect (i.e.: “the dentists I’ve been to won’t say anything about it”).
Why Part 2: It gets difficult to read sentences when they become this long, so I broke it into two. Note the much shortened second sentence. I did this because English speakers tend to favor a kind of long/short/long/short rythm in speech and writing. Less grammar on “down beats” feels better. It’s a pretty cool trick to use once you get the hang of it, don’t you agree?
The thing that I notice and hints that I should brush is the frequent canker sores (again, let’s hope the right word, little annoying ass white spots that, apears, hurts than dips)
This sentence is actually a really good learning opportunity because it reveals something about English-speaking culture: we hate attributing actions to passive objects. Yes… it’s not technically wrong to say “the things that hint I should brush are canker sores”, but it still feels wrong unless you’re writing poetically. Here’s how I’d write it instead:
When I get frequent canker sores it’s a hint that I should brush.
Why: Canker sores no longer do the hinting. It’s you who gets the canker sores and they merely exist as hints. Alternatively, you could even phrase it like this: “Increasingly frequent canker sores tell me that I should brush”. If we anthropomorphize “canker sores” as actively intelligent beings, we’re allowed to attribute actions to them without falling into the “passive object action” trap. Yes… this stupid language really works like that. We will go so far as to pretend that canker sores are sentient if it means we can blame stuff on them. I am sorry 🙏
You don’t need to be sorry to anything at all. I learnt from you. Even if understanding/using the things I just read will take time I have heard things that I didn’t know existed. Like the alternating long/short. Imma start paying more attension to that maybe ppl actually use it, and I’ve just been ignoring it. The other thing is not to “attribute” objects. It’s kinda a bummer because I feel like my mother tounge uses it a lot, so I kinda think that way. Is it correct to phrase it like: “the increase in X tells me” or “the increase in X leads me to”? Does the focus have to be on X (only giving it adjectives, I believe you’ve done that)?
I’m fucking ashamed that probably the single largest info drop that I got for speaking tips came from me being a fucking slob… (I should change)
Also what is that “new language” that you been trying to learn, maybe just maybe, it’s mine :)
side note: I always have problems with edge case (at least for me) tenses, when the “perfect” is in there I’m out of there. Thx again.
^I tried using short/long in this post btw, hope it worked
Like the alternating long/short. Imma start paying more attension to that maybe ppl actually use it, and I’ve just been ignoring it.
This is basically just a trick to sound more natural with less grammar, so feel free to pick and choose when to use it. So far I think you’ve struck a pretty good balance!
Is it correct to phrase it like: “the increase in X tells me” or “the increase in X leads me to”?
Yes, both of these sentences sound very natural to me. I think you’ve gotten the hang of it
Also what is that “new language” that you been trying to learn, maybe just maybe, it’s mine :)
Japanese! I’m a mega-weaboo lol
I’m fucking ashamed that probably the single largest info drop that I got for speaking tips came from me being a fucking slob… (I should change)
Yeah, you might want to work on your hygiene… It’s OK, though. We all have our circumstances and other people on the internet are rarely as perfect as they claim to be!
Does the focus have to be on X (only giving it adjectives, I believe you’ve done that)?
It’s less about the pattern of the sentence and more about a grammatical concept called the “agent”. The agent is the “doer” of the sentence. In English, the agent is usually (not always!) based on the sentence subject and native speakers will use one of several different tricks to shuffle the agent around when talking about an inanimate subject. I’ll list a few additional ways of doing this below to help illustrate:
Unnatural: My shirt wrinkled
This is a normal type of sentence, so the agent is the subject (“my shirt”). An inanimate agent sounds unnatural, so try to avoid this
Natural: My shirt is wrinkled
In this sentence we’ve introduced a copula (“is”) as the main verb of the sentence. Copula-based sentences like this one describe states of being and thus contain no action at all (e.g.: “My shirt is red” – no action!). No action means no agent. No agent means no problem!
Natural: My shirt got wrinkled
This is a way of speaking called the “passive voice” which implies a hidden agent as the true doer of the action. Since the agent is hidden, it won’t be based on the subject, so an inanimate subject can be used without sounding unnatural.
Natural: My shirt wrinkled itself
This is a way of speaking called the “reflexive voice” which you can use if the verb in question also has a transitive form (AKA: if it’s a “labile verb”). In the reflexive voice, all agents automatically become animate. No inanimate agent means no problem!
Natural: The sun rose
Some non-living things are still considered to be animate. These are almost always things which appear to move of their own volition, such as celestial bodies (“The moon shone”) or vehicles (“The boat sank”). There’s no problem with using animate things as the agent!
Thanks again. I’m not Japanese, or know it, so I can’t help you with that one, sorry. May I ask whether you’re and english major? You say so much grammar so confidently, are you a teacher perhaps? The thing about agents I only heard once or twice in English class.
I’m Hungarian btw, and I know how hard our language is, so I figured I could be of great help. It’s probably for the best as even I don’t know how to speak this
shitculture rich language correctly :/May I ask whether you’re and english major? You say so much grammar so confidently, are you a teacher perhaps? The thing about agents I only heard once or twice in English class.
Nah, I’m just a college dropout who has weird interests lol! It has been my sincere pleasure to help out another learner 😊
I’m Hungarian btw, and I know how hard our language is, so I figured I could be of great help. It’s probably for the best as even I don’t know how to speak this shit culture rich language correctly :/
Greetings from across the ocean in Atlanta, GA!
This is the type of shit I missed seeing on Reddit. It’s a breath of fresh breath 😃 seeing someone just genuinely caring to help someone learn a second language because it’s a kind thing to do. Thank you both for this interaction!
Main reason you need to brush daily is because plaque turns to tarter after about 24-36 hours. Plaque is soft and can be brushed off. Tarter on the other hand is hard as your enamel. Brushing will not remove tarter. Overtime the tarter will build up and get under your gums and cause your teeth to separate from your jaw. It’s why going to the dentist twice a year for a cleaning is so necessary as they will scrape off the tarter that builds up.
Gum health is another factor that brushing alone will not take care off. Flossing will prevent bacteria growth and infections. That’s another source of how people lose their teeth as they get older.
Bottom line is without daily oral care you will lose your teeth as you age.
im in trouble then 🙃
Only if you keep doing what you’re doing. You have a choice ultimately.
yes, well, I don’t plan to stay like this ofc.
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I’m 80% once a day [night time] and touch wood, only ever had one filling needed and that was back in 2009. Bro sciencing it but I chalk it up to drinking a lot of water and shlooshing my mouth out after meals, especially if i’ve had orange juice, ice cream or other not good for teeth stuff. A bit of gum maybe too, but I don’t know how much of BigGum fills our heads with random fake science.
I did have a ‘uh-oh’ phase a few months ago where my teeth were super sensitive, but some Sensodyne, mouthwash and twice daily sorted it out and now i’m fine again…and back to my old habits lol; enamel must of taken a lil beating.
Dentist says things are always fine, so I just keep it up /shrug
I always wondered whether it’s flora and fauna dependent to some extent, so some people have bacteria that don’t damage the teeth and other have the nasty ones and have a constant battle.
I’ve been a massive slut for a couple of years. I wonder if it was possible to pass those germs on.
When I wake up and before bed
Same, but I’ve combined my teeth brushing with showering. It gives you a nice excuse to zone out in the shower for just a bit longer.
Pro tip: if you call zoning out “meditating” (because that’s what it is) it makes you feel more put-together and successful. Congrats on your practice of hydrotherapy meditation.
Ooo that’s fancy, I like it!
I just wander about the house brushing my teeth, that way I’m not stuck just standing in the bathroom
How do you keep from making a mess? I look like I have an advanced case of rabies when I brush mine.
2-3 times a day, depends
If I’m at work, I also brush after lunch
If I’m home, I just casually skip it because yeah fuck it
I only ever brush before going to bed, never in the mornings.
I probably started doing this around 6-8 years ago, and have had no problems at my annual check-ups.
Dude your breath probably smells and people are too polite to tell you.
On your tongue there are a lot of anaerobic microbes (on everybody’s tongue, it isn’t a hygiene thing, they just live there). When you have your mouth closed for a long time, it creates a oxygen poor environment and these microbes thrive in that. They cause bad breath, so after people sleep or simply have their mouth closed for a while, the breath starts to stink. If you look in a mirror and your tongue has a kinda white or brownish tinge, this is because of the microbes. Everybody should brush their teeth and especially their tongue after sleeping. When looking in a mirror the tongue should be entirely pink and look healthy. Clean the tongue as far back as you can, to prevent bad breath.
If you smoke this isn’t true, your breath will stink no matter what.
So for your teeth it probably won’t matter much not brushing in the mornings, but for your breath it matters a lot.
Genuinely feel for people who have to spend time in enclosed spaces with you.
Congratulations for winning the genetic lottery with the robustness of your teeth, but brushing is also about hygiene. Body odour isn’t physically bad for you, but it is for everyone who has to be near you. Same with your breath.
I have gingivitis, hereditary. So I strictly brush after every meal, and try not to forget to floss. My mom wasn’t as rigorous and now she has major teeth and gum issues, so I don’t want to end up the same way.
3 times a day.
I brush after each meal, floss after lunch, and use a waterpik after dinner before brushing.
Probably excessive, but it’s less than 15 minutes a day total to keep my teeth happy.
Thats absolutely bizarre to me. Do you travel at all? How does that work?
