Don’t Floss During Dinner, and Other Dental Dating Advice
/You know things are starting to get serious with someone when your dental care time starts to overlap more regularly with your time spent together. That’s a good thing, right? And we all know that the hallmark of a good relationship is being able to share personal things with one another… but there are limits. Particularly when it comes to oral health, some of the things we need do to take care of our teeth are our own personal responsibility to manage and might be better left private. Let’s have a look in more detail.
Brushing Your Teeth – They Call it Personal Hygiene for a Reason
In the movies, it looks cute to walk around the house in your underwear with a toothbrush in your mouth, but in reality, it’s kind of messy. Do you really want to be dribbling toothpaste down your chin in front of your new romantic partner? And what happens when your gums are bleeding? After all, it does happen occasionally, right? Is that something you really want to share with a new love interest? The two of you might decide that you like brushing your teeth together at some point, but in the beginning, it’s probably a good idea to leave the scrubbing and spitting for private time.
Flossing – Watch Out for Flying Debris
Flossing. It can actually be a little gross, don’t you think? Sometimes, when you’re pulling out little pieces of food from between your teeth, they can fly up in the air. Just guessing here, but you probably don’t want those little bits to hit your new beau in the face. Neither do you want them landing on the bathroom mirror and staying there, or left lying in the sink. Without knowing you or your potential mate, there’s no way of saying what your respective thresholds are for cleanliness and personal hygiene. However, we’re pretty sure this one is safely outside the bounds of acceptability for many people. Keep your flossing to yourself.
Ordering Stinky Food – Yay or Nay?
If the two of you are going to share a big loaf of garlic bread, great. Enjoy it! But if your date is ordering something less, shall we say, aromatic, you might want to think twice. Foods like onions and garlic and strong spices such as curry can leave a distinct taste on your breath. If your date didn’t order it, then chances are they don’t want to taste it in your mouth after dinner.
Mouthwash
Use as directed… particularly if you decided not to take our advice about the garlic bread.
Food Between Your Date’s Teeth – Do You Say Something?
This is a tricky one. Some people feel shy about telling someone that they have something stuck between their front teeth. Or crumbs in their beard. Or cream cheese smeared on their cheek. Other people are of the mind that a friend tells a friend when they have something out of place with their appearance. It’s a matter of taking care of each other. With that in mind, unless your date has offended you so much that you are ready to let them walk out the door with tissue paper stuck to their shoe, then it’s definitely the kind choice to tell them if there’s food stuck in their teeth. Especially if you think you might be kissing them later.
Morning Breath
Listen. If we’re talking about morning breath here, then things are obviously going rather well. We’d like to think that if you’re sharing morning breath with someone, then you’ve already established a basic comfort level around their personal hygiene and the way they smell. That’s a fundamental part of the animal attraction, don’t you think? If not, then start back at the top of this article with brushing your teeth. It is, after all, a daily routine.