Brushing and Flossing in the Shower
March 12, 2020 7:50 PM Subscribe
Does anyone else brush and floss their teeth in the shower?
So a year or so ago I had an epiphany and decided to brush and floss in the shower, rather than over the sink and facing a mirror. This has had the advantages of getting me flossing regularly (where I was previously sporadic) and brushing longer and more thoroughly, as the reward is a few more minutes enjoying the warming or cooling water (depending on the season). There's a bin next to the shower that the used floss can go into, and a handy shelf for the paste, brush and floss.
This is a good little tweak for me, but my spouse thinks it's a bit odd. Does anyone else do this? Are there pros and cons that I'm missing?
So a year or so ago I had an epiphany and decided to brush and floss in the shower, rather than over the sink and facing a mirror. This has had the advantages of getting me flossing regularly (where I was previously sporadic) and brushing longer and more thoroughly, as the reward is a few more minutes enjoying the warming or cooling water (depending on the season). There's a bin next to the shower that the used floss can go into, and a handy shelf for the paste, brush and floss.
This is a good little tweak for me, but my spouse thinks it's a bit odd. Does anyone else do this? Are there pros and cons that I'm missing?
I do like to brush before jumping in the shower, but I think I might try your way after reading your question!
I would make sure I had a glass of cold water nearby, for rinsing.
posted by wats at 7:53 PM on March 12, 2020
I would make sure I had a glass of cold water nearby, for rinsing.
posted by wats at 7:53 PM on March 12, 2020
My former dentist told me that he does, and recommended it. I don't because my skin is drying out more with every additional second in the shower, but I see the point.
posted by bunderful at 8:01 PM on March 12, 2020
posted by bunderful at 8:01 PM on March 12, 2020
Yes! and you can even use a Showerfloss if you like the waterpik feel instead of regular floss.
posted by OHenryPacey at 8:04 PM on March 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by OHenryPacey at 8:04 PM on March 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
I brush my teeth in the shower because I am going to spend too long in the shower anyway so I may as well be "efficient" at it. I don't floss in the shower because I find the floss slips off my fingers too much if my hands are wet.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:09 PM on March 12, 2020
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:09 PM on March 12, 2020
I think the only issue is that the warm water from the showerhead is not necessarily safe to drink. Hot water picks up all kinds of stuff from the pipes. And your showerhead might not be clean enough that you'd want to drink water coming from it. But as long as you are spitting rather than swallowing, maybe it's fine?
posted by lollusc at 8:09 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by lollusc at 8:09 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I often brush in the shower, but I never have flossed in the shower. But I also brush at the piano, running through chord changes with my left hand, so I might not be typical in re: brushing locations.
posted by niicholas at 8:22 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by niicholas at 8:22 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Chiming in as another shower-teethbrusher.
posted by What is E. T. short for? at 8:23 PM on March 12, 2020
posted by What is E. T. short for? at 8:23 PM on March 12, 2020
I brush my teeth in the shower too, it alleviates some of my sensory issues with brushing.
posted by buildmyworld at 8:28 PM on March 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by buildmyworld at 8:28 PM on March 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
I have done this on occasion but don't usually do it because I feel like I'm wasting shower water.
posted by batter_my_heart at 8:37 PM on March 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by batter_my_heart at 8:37 PM on March 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
I brush and floss in the shower, it's great. I have one of those reach brand flosser wands with the disposable heads, so I don't have to mess with floss or reach for a trash can. Works great for me.
Only downside is that one time I spit toothpaste on my dog's head and he ate a lick of my spit paste and now I have to live with that forever.
(I also, to save time and water and sanity, bathe my dog by just taking him into a regular shower with me, sudsing him up, and letting him hang out while I finish my shower. He walked into the firing line during my tooth brushing :( )
posted by phunniemee at 8:39 PM on March 12, 2020 [10 favorites]
Only downside is that one time I spit toothpaste on my dog's head and he ate a lick of my spit paste and now I have to live with that forever.
(I also, to save time and water and sanity, bathe my dog by just taking him into a regular shower with me, sudsing him up, and letting him hang out while I finish my shower. He walked into the firing line during my tooth brushing :( )
posted by phunniemee at 8:39 PM on March 12, 2020 [10 favorites]
I've brushed in the shower before, and didn't consider it all that weird, but then I have some "down time" in the shower while I let conditioner sit in my hair, so I don't feel like I'm wasting water that I otherwise wouldn't have used. The only real reason I don't do it any more is because there's nowhere convenient to set my toothbrush down in my current shower set up.
posted by yasaman at 8:50 PM on March 12, 2020
posted by yasaman at 8:50 PM on March 12, 2020
Yes!
I have a sensory thing around brushing my teeth, which for some reason doesn't happen when I'm in the shower. (I shower at night and listen to podcasts in the morning when I brush my teeth then.) I can't remember when I started, but definitely years ago, and it's the thing that got me brushing regularly, tbh. I use only a bit of toothpaste and spit but don't rinse, so I'm not worried about the effects of drinking shower-water or of swallowing toothpaste.
(I just started flossing again, I will try flossing in the shower tonight!)
posted by kalimac at 9:05 PM on March 12, 2020
I have a sensory thing around brushing my teeth, which for some reason doesn't happen when I'm in the shower. (I shower at night and listen to podcasts in the morning when I brush my teeth then.) I can't remember when I started, but definitely years ago, and it's the thing that got me brushing regularly, tbh. I use only a bit of toothpaste and spit but don't rinse, so I'm not worried about the effects of drinking shower-water or of swallowing toothpaste.
(I just started flossing again, I will try flossing in the shower tonight!)
posted by kalimac at 9:05 PM on March 12, 2020
I brush my teeth in the shower, and it's so normal for me that I'm having trouble imagining why it would be weird! Showers are for cleaning my body, and my teeth are in my body.
posted by Pwoink at 9:24 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Pwoink at 9:24 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Yes, and you can get one of these Amazon.com : Flossaid Dental Floss Holder - 3 Pack (Assorted Colors) : Beauty doo-hickeys so you can use regular floss and not have to wrap it around fingers and shove them into your mouth.
posted by zengargoyle at 9:30 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 9:30 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'd brushed in the shower but never considered flossing. This may be life-changing.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 9:42 PM on March 12, 2020
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 9:42 PM on March 12, 2020
Yes, and I'm so heartened to see that others do, too! It feels very efficient and less messy than the popular alternative.
posted by Transmissions From Vrillon at 10:01 PM on March 12, 2020
posted by Transmissions From Vrillon at 10:01 PM on March 12, 2020
how wasteful is this compared to just over the sink? i ask because i usually turn off the water while brushing and flossing. Would you just have the shower water running all this time?
posted by alchemist at 11:47 PM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by alchemist at 11:47 PM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Used to do it, then my state had a drought so I couldn't for a while and got it the habit and now I don't because guilt and found I floss now and better now simply by having floss at my home computer desk.
posted by wwax at 4:40 AM on March 13, 2020
posted by wwax at 4:40 AM on March 13, 2020
I take a bath, and brush my teeth in the tub (sitting up at the faucet).
posted by 8603 at 5:21 AM on March 13, 2020
posted by 8603 at 5:21 AM on March 13, 2020
I brush my teeth in the shower in the morning. To be totally accurate, I turn on the water to wait for it to get hot, put the toothpaste on my toothbrush and start brushing my teeth while the water is heating up, and then finish up/rinse once the water is warm.
I wasn't aware you shouldn't drink warm water, but now that I think of it I don't ingest any of the water, just swish with it.
posted by Medieval Maven at 5:50 AM on March 13, 2020
I wasn't aware you shouldn't drink warm water, but now that I think of it I don't ingest any of the water, just swish with it.
posted by Medieval Maven at 5:50 AM on March 13, 2020
Another plus side is that you don't get those anoying toothpasty droplets that somehow appear all over the bathroom mirror after brushing.
posted by mightshould at 6:28 AM on March 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by mightshould at 6:28 AM on March 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
I wasn't aware you shouldn't drink warm water, but now that I think of it I don't ingest any of the water, just swish with it.
I'm still not aware of this. Aside from the comment that vaguely states that maybe it could be unsafe, above. I have been guzzling hot water during showers for my whole life, even if I wasn't, I'd be rubbing this same tainted water deeply into my body, into my other holes. Plus the water is getting breathed in. I think it stands to reason that if your shower water is somehow filthy enough to not be drinking, it's also too filthy to breathe and get in all your holes.
posted by GoblinHoney at 9:14 AM on March 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm still not aware of this. Aside from the comment that vaguely states that maybe it could be unsafe, above. I have been guzzling hot water during showers for my whole life, even if I wasn't, I'd be rubbing this same tainted water deeply into my body, into my other holes. Plus the water is getting breathed in. I think it stands to reason that if your shower water is somehow filthy enough to not be drinking, it's also too filthy to breathe and get in all your holes.
posted by GoblinHoney at 9:14 AM on March 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Sounds like a waste of water to me. I brush at the sink with the water turned off. In the shower, I use my conditioner time to exfoliate, shave, wash my feet, and so on.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 9:42 AM on March 13, 2020
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 9:42 AM on March 13, 2020
Yes!. If you have a big beard like I do it is the bees knees for post-tooth-brushing-rinse-toothpaste-out-of-mustache-and-bear maintenance.
posted by tayknight at 12:12 PM on March 13, 2020
posted by tayknight at 12:12 PM on March 13, 2020
Response by poster: Thanks everyone - glad to read I was not alone!
I appreciated the points that were essentially to be sure your shower water is drinkable. While my habit is fine where I live, I should change up when travelling.
And yes, spending a few more minutes in a shower is slightly wasteful of water and energy. I'm generally in and out of a shower pretty quick (<5 minutes including teeth) and I think the benefit of my better oral care is worth it, although I'd review should there be significant water restrictions in my area.
posted by jjderooy at 3:22 PM on March 15, 2020
I appreciated the points that were essentially to be sure your shower water is drinkable. While my habit is fine where I live, I should change up when travelling.
And yes, spending a few more minutes in a shower is slightly wasteful of water and energy. I'm generally in and out of a shower pretty quick (<5 minutes including teeth) and I think the benefit of my better oral care is worth it, although I'd review should there be significant water restrictions in my area.
posted by jjderooy at 3:22 PM on March 15, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by exceptinsects at 7:52 PM on March 12, 2020