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.
this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2023
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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?
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…
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.
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.
You ever been tested for ADHD? This could be a symptom of that.
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.
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I just wander about the house brushing my teeth, that way I’m not stuck just standing in the bathroom
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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...
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 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 🙏
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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.
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I’m a once before bed kinda guy atm.
Mouthwash in the morning perhaps. Have a bottle in my car.
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Brush in the morning to keep your friends, brush at night to keep your teeth.
At least twice a day, usually three times a day, but I have "reasons".
After not taking really good care of my teeth for too many years, I needed surgery. I recovered completely and kept my teeth, but was clearly given the message that if I want to keep my teeth I need to be diligent about their care. I've lived long enough to understand the value of having a working, pain-free set of a choppers. So, I complied.
Once I had recovered from the surgery and infection, it became clear I needed braces, so my dentist suggested Invisaligns. These have the "benefit" of making you brush your teeth every time you take them off (to eat, to drink anything staining) and put them back on. I have to wear my braces 22 hours a day to comply with the treatment.
My normal routine is to get up in the morning, take my braces off, have as much espresso as I want and maybe some yogurt, then brush my teeth with a stain-removing paste (Arm and Hammer Peroxicare) and put my braces back in. Then at lunch I pop out the braces, eat, brush my teeth (Peroxicare), then pop my braces back in until dinner. Dinner, rinse repeat, but then I use a Crest Gum Detoxify before popping the braces back in before bed as part of my ongoing post-surgical routine.
I also use a water flosser at least once a day.
My teeth and gums are really healthy now and I intend to keep them that way.
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I hate it so much. I can't stand standing in the bathroom in front of a mirror and fiddle with my teeth. That whole experience is just wholy depressing, and then the foul taste on top of that. I try to at least brush and use mouthwash when I wake up and am groggy enough to not mind that much.
As much as I agree, life is a whole lot more depressing if you DON'T take care of your teeth.
I brush mine in the shower.
I mean I couldn't do that either, not for very long at least. I have the tendency to walk around aimlessly when doing something like that (same when I'm on the phone), which means I have to clean the floor after. So mostly I either brush my theeth in the shower or I sit down/lie down.
Damn, I just noticed that my theeth brushing habits are probably very weird, bit hey, at least that way I do it 2 - 3 times a day.
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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.
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After breakfast and before bed everyday. Sometimes after lunch too. Keeps me from snacking, makes me feel fresh and my teeth stay healthy.
Once in the morning (with a tongue scraper beforehand), once before bed (with flossing and the tongue scraper beforehand).
Seems to work well enough so far. Oh and an electric toothbrush is a must.
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Usually 2x a day, when I get up and when I go to bed.
After breakfast and before i go to bed.
You should brush before breakfast to remove the bacteria from your mouth that breaks your teeth in combination with sugar
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Twice, but there’s times when I’m too exhausted to bother.
Twice a day. One when I get up and one before going to bed. I floss occasionally.
I'm surprised by how many people do that after every meal. Is it good for enamel?
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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.
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Depends on my mood, if i have energy or not. I'm trying get back to how i used to, when i brushed multiple times a day, but i usually brush once a day on a good day.
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.
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There's a recent podcast edition of Science Vs. about this very thing.
According to their interviewed experts and their research, brushing your teeth does nothing to prevent cavities UNLESS it's fluoridated toothpaste.
Flossing also doesn't really prevent cavities, but it is important for me gum health. They recommend regular flossing (more than once a week)
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After waking up, ~~after~~ before going to bed and after every meal
Twice a day, once in the morning or whenever I get ready for the day and once before bed. I also brush my tongue with a tongue brush/scraper. My current struggle is trying to get flossing into my routine. I know if I keep at it, it'll get better, but right now it's hard to want to go to bed with the taste of blood in my mouth.
To all of you who don't brush in the morning, are you all nose blind? Morning breath is the worst, second only behind coffee+morning breath. Have some consideration for your fellow humans.
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I have less than desirable teeth..I have a Few missing, but thankfully (?) they are at the back. I never flossed as a youth/young adult even though I brushed twice a day. Since getting my act together and regularly flossing, I've never had better oral hygiene.
Funnily enough I only brush once a day now
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