The American Dental Association recommends brushing your teeth twice a day, and most people make it a habit of doing it once when they wake up and once before bed.
But as it turns out, women are much better at keeping up good dental hygiene than men — and they've noticed.
While studies say men are less likely to get regular dental exams, anecdotal evidence from advice columns, Reddit, and a new piece on GQ.com indicate that many men also don't brush their teeth twice daily, with some even going multiple days without seeing a tube of toothpaste.
Ew: Anecdotal evidence from advice columns and Reddit indicates that an alarming number of men don't brush their teeth regularly
A 2014 Gallup poll found that a third of Americans hadn't gone to a dentist in the preceding year, but women were going in higher numbers: 67.2 per cent of women had had an appointment, compared to 62 per cent of men.
There are plenty of reasons for not getting an annual cleaning an exam, including a lack of insurance.
But low funds or access aren't obstacles for just brushing one's teeth — yet still, it seems some men just can't bring themselves to clean their mouths.
GQ points to multiple articles and threads with women complaining that their husbands or boyfriends are refusing to brush, with quite a few asserting that it was damaging their relationships.
Oddly, the men seem unbothered.
A 21-year-old man from Maryland named Sam told the site that he almost never brushed his teeth in years past — and though he does now, he doesn't remember to do it consistently.
'This causes me a lot of worry and cavities but I still don’t do enough about it,' he said, the verbal equivalent of a shrug.
His breath is remarkably foul... If we hop in the car to run an errand, I can smell itA man named Chris wrote: 'I haven't been to the dentist in three years and I just tend to forget to brush my teeth lol.'
But women don't find it funny.
One, who wrote into an advice columnist at A Practical Wedding, said her husband-to-be brushed his teeth every night before bed, but never in the morning.
'I wouldn’t be so obsessed with this if his breath weren’t so remarkably foul. It repulses me when he tries to kiss me and I have to hold my breath. If we hop in the car to run an errand, I can smell it when the windows are up and have to ask him to put his window down,' she wrote.
Though she has broached the subject with him several times — and even fought with him about it twice — he won't change his habits.
'I don’t feel like this should be my job,' she said. 'I love this man so much, but I feel utterly hopeless on this issue. If asking nicely doesn’t work, what else can I do?'
On Ask MetaFilter, a woman in her late 20s wrote that she'd been with her husband for nine years and had a 'wonderful' relationship — except that her husband 'goes for days at a time without brushing his teeth'.
Like several other women who have complained about the teeth-brushing issue, she said her husband's other hygiene habits are all good. But rather than brushing, he just pops mints.
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Share'I don't want to have to remind him all of the time like a parent would because I don't want that kind of dynamic in our relationship,' she wrote, adding: 'This whole issue is really affecting my libido.'
Another woman, whose husband brushes just once a day, complained about his breath on Reddit.
'I've tried just about everything. I ask him to freshen up. I tell him that it turns me off. I tell him that I like kissing him if his breath is fresh. I tell him it discourages me from spontaneous sex. I buy him mints.
'I've tried teasing/light-hearted suggestion. I've tried annoyed/frustrated tone. I've tried pronouncing my avoidance of his mouth. I've tried heart-to-heart "let's work on us" conversations. I've tried complimenting his good breath. He just doesn't understand that this is a big deal to me, even though I've told him.'
Yet another woman, who lives with her boyfriend of four years, wrote on Reddit: 'His teeth are kind of mucky sometimes. I'm confused how a rational adult neglects to brush his teeth, or even see a dentist.
'I've encouraged him to brush, I've bought him toothbrushes and have invited him to brush is teeth with me. I've even prompted him by suggesting we brush our teeth after heavy garlicy dinners before kisses, and no dice.'
Several commenters on these threads seemed to sympathize, with many expressing their own frustration.
'It never ceases to amaze me how many grown ass men need their wives to act as pseudo-mothers. Ask him if he would be okay with sometimes not wiping his a** after he took a s***,' wrote one.
'My husband is the same way. He will only brush his teeth at night before bed and his coworkers tell me about his rank breath every time I visit him at work,' added another.
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