4 ms·

> I've gone months without brushing my teeth Why?

geuis 14y ago
If you never get cavities, the principal reason for brushing goes out the window. Humans survived for tens of thousands of years with plaque and yesterday's kill stuck in the teeth, even when poor dental was predominant. The primary reasons to brush your teeth are to prevent cavities, plaque buildup, and smell. If you don't get the first problem, the others are easy to ignore. Pleasant smelling breath is a modern ascetic, so it's easy to imagine a scenario where a young man that hasn't had regular intimate contact yet ignores the bad breath. It's only afterword that the positive social benefits become understood.
- Vivtek 14y ago
  Humans survived with poor dental care by dying before their teeth were completely rotted. If you plan to live longer than about 50, you'd better brush.
  - btilly 14y ago
    This is a very strong claim, and is not backed by the evidence. Studies of surviving hunting-gathering societies suggest that their lives were much lower stress and life spans (barring violent accident) much longer than early agricultural societies. Even with accident included, their lifespans were better comparatively recently. (For instance the eskimos, despite living in one of the harshest environments on Earth, had about a 25% chance of surviving to 60.) Whether or not they would lose their teeth varied by diet. Our diets have lots of sugar and grains in them which promotes tooth decay. Other diets differ. Early surveys of eskimos that had never eaten Western food showed that most never have had a cavity in their lives. The immunity was not genetic - those exposed to Western food had plenty of cavities. See http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/07/mortality-and-lifespan-of-inuit.html http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/07/mortality-and-... for a reference to the lifespan of eskimos. See http://www.journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/price5.html http://www.journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/price5.ht... for some evidence about their lack of tooth decay.
    - Vivtek 14y ago
      Ah, but strong claims are a good tactic for eliciting fascinating responses like this one - thanks!
tluyben2 14y ago
Yuck?
- Mwyborn 14y ago
  Yes i agree, that's disgusting.
Heinleinian 14y ago
As I said above, I started brushing my teeth in the mornings in college for breath reasons, so this was when I was a teenager. That was a long time ago, so I don't know. I was staying up absurdly late, passing out, and then having to get up at 7am to catch the bus, so that probably had something to do with it.
Dove 14y ago
As someone with the same habits as the poster, I would say negative reinforcement. Every time I brush my teeth -- EVERY TIME! -- they hurt for about two days, and I get nasty bad breath. But if I go without brushing for weeks on end, things are fine. I brush anyway, when I want to look nice for something, but usually I skip it. I've always wondered if, when I brush, I wipe out whatever bacteria are taking up the niche the teeth-eating bad-breath-causing ones usually fill. I haven't thought of a test for that, but my continued experience with teeth that only don't hurt if I haven't brushed for a while doesn't seem to align with the conventional idea of how it works...

geuis 14y ago

If you never get cavities, the principal reason for brushing goes out the window. Humans survived for tens of thousands of years with plaque and yesterday's kill stuck in the teeth, even when poor dental was predominant. The primary reasons to brush your teeth are to prevent cavities, plaque buildup, and smell. If you don't get the first problem, the others are easy to ignore. Pleasant smelling breath is a modern ascetic, so it's easy to imagine a scenario where a young man that hasn't had regular intimate contact yet ignores the bad breath. It's only afterword that the positive social benefits become understood.

Vivtek 14y ago
Humans survived with poor dental care by dying before their teeth were completely rotted. If you plan to live longer than about 50, you'd better brush.
- btilly 14y ago
  This is a very strong claim, and is not backed by the evidence. Studies of surviving hunting-gathering societies suggest that their lives were much lower stress and life spans (barring violent accident) much longer than early agricultural societies. Even with accident included, their lifespans were better comparatively recently. (For instance the eskimos, despite living in one of the harshest environments on Earth, had about a 25% chance of surviving to 60.) Whether or not they would lose their teeth varied by diet. Our diets have lots of sugar and grains in them which promotes tooth decay. Other diets differ. Early surveys of eskimos that had never eaten Western food showed that most never have had a cavity in their lives. The immunity was not genetic - those exposed to Western food had plenty of cavities. See http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/07/mortality-and-lifespan-of-inuit.html http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/07/mortality-and-... for a reference to the lifespan of eskimos. See http://www.journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/price5.html http://www.journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/price5.ht... for some evidence about their lack of tooth decay.
  - Vivtek 14y ago
    Ah, but strong claims are a good tactic for eliciting fascinating responses like this one - thanks!

tluyben2 14y ago

Yuck?

Mwyborn 14y ago
Yes i agree, that's disgusting.

Heinleinian 14y ago

As I said above, I started brushing my teeth in the mornings in college for breath reasons, so this was when I was a teenager. That was a long time ago, so I don't know. I was staying up absurdly late, passing out, and then having to get up at 7am to catch the bus, so that probably had something to do with it.

Dove 14y ago

As someone with the same habits as the poster, I would say negative reinforcement. Every time I brush my teeth -- EVERY TIME! -- they hurt for about two days, and I get nasty bad breath. But if I go without brushing for weeks on end, things are fine. I brush anyway, when I want to look nice for something, but usually I skip it. I've always wondered if, when I brush, I wipe out whatever bacteria are taking up the niche the teeth-eating bad-breath-causing ones usually fill. I haven't thought of a test for that, but my continued experience with teeth that only don't hurt if I haven't brushed for a while doesn't seem to align with the conventional idea of how it works...