The number of folks here at work who brush their teeth after lunch has increased from the occasional 1 or 2 to what seems like damn near everyone (heavy on the recent hires that just graduated from college).
I just came from the mens room and all 8 sinks were taken up by folks scrubbing away. And talking. If it’s not polite to talk with your mouth full of food, why would you think it’s OK to talk with your mouth full of toothpaste and a brush? Argh.
So is this just a localized fad that I apparently didn’t get the memo for, or am I more out of touch with general society than I’m aware?
I have seen people at work do this not only in my last job, but the present one as well. As much as people don’t like seeing or hearing people talk with their mouth full, I’m sure there are those out there that hate smelling what they had, or in some cases what they hadn’t had, to eat. Thank God people do that. If you can’t brush, a stick of gum is okay.
Smell shmell! If you want to keep your teeth and don’t want to walk around with food between your teeth this is what one is suppose to do.
However, I believe that due to Hollywood and probably that we are more health aware now days this has become more of a common practice. If you haven’t noticed the amount of people who have absolutely astonishing white teeth (especially among women) is incredible. Is this normal for people to have stark white teeth? No, enamel (like Ivory) are made of bone and has a pigmentation like skin (also affected by Coffee, coke, and smoking).
I suggest you follow your co-workers lead and do the same after lunch time (psst - It also helps to curb your desire to eat more after lunch - like candy)
Brushing helps curb the desire to eat more after lunch? And here I thought leftover lunch falling from your unbrushed teeth throughout the afternoon was supposed to do that.
Personally, I’m not jumping on the afternoon brushing bandwagon until after I’ve got the “floss nightly” habit down pat.
“The ADA recommends the following for good oral hygiene:
Brush your teeth twice a day with an ADA-accepted fluoride toothpaste.”
(taken from http://www.ada.org)
Nowhere does the ADA say that you need to floss after every meal. If that were the case, that would be 3 times a day. I bet you the people that brush at work are not going home and flossing on a regular basis either.
If you aren’t a feral pig whne you eat and you toss back a mint every now and then, there is no reason to brush at work. Plus - eat appropriate foods. Just like you’d be wary about eating spaghetti and tomato sauce in your best white shirt, don’t eat food with 2 pounds of garlic or stringy pieces of spinich in it right before a work presentation.