Some advice from GQ
Men, Please Brush Your Teeth
If you search the word “teeth” on Reddit, or
through any internet advice column, you’ll see what a common issue this
seems to be. Men who don’t brush for days at a time. Men turning defensive when their girlfriends ask them to go to the dentist. Men who shower every day, but whose only dental hygiene routine is stocking up on breath mints. Men who will nag their partners to brush their teeth, but who won’t do the same for themselves.
According to a survey
from the Academy of General Dentistry, this is more than just an
anecdotal problem. American women are more likely to get preventative
dental care than men, and according to a different study from the Journal of Periodontology
said men were less likely to brush regularly and do things like
schedule regular dental checkups. Men are also more likely to lose teeth
as they age, and develop oral and throat cancer, and gum disease.
However, presumably men grow up surrounded by just as many helpful
toothpaste commercials and posters in Kindergarten classrooms. Yes,
going to the dentist sucks, but also, we’re all adults here. And so, I
ask a question I’ve asked many, many times in my 31 years on this
planet: Men, what on earth is up with you?
I wish I had the ability to search Reddit. Unfortunately I have PTSD from doing internet research back in the 90's. I was one of the actual humans who verified other people's search terms to determine the goal of the user and the accuracy of results. (Totally serious, my boss created that paperclip guy.) Trust me, even with (mostly misspelled) sex terms filtered out, it was traumatic.
And now I regret helping them improve their algorithms. Every single day.
