BRUSHING YOUR TEETH IN THE SHOWER ISN’T GREAT FOR YOU

There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground when it comes to the idea of brushing your teeth in the shower. People seem to love the idea or hate it, with no room in the middle.

Count New York college student Annalise Hoffman as one of the haters after seeing a roommate’s toothbrush in the shower.

“I think it’s sickening that people would brush their teeth in the shower,” Hoffman told the Wall Street Journal. “Every shower is full of germs that are getting sprayed all over your toothbrush.”

So why do people brush their teeth in the shower? The biggest reasons, they say, are that it saves time and water.

But it doesn’t appear to actually save any water if you’re shutting off the sink faucet while brushing. Most faucets use 1.5 gallons per minute while a shower uses 2 to 3 gallons per minute.

And just how prevalent is this trend?

The Delta Dental Oral Health and Well-Being Survey in 2014 found that 4 percent most frequently brushed in the shower, with those between ages 18 to 44 twice as likely to brush in the shower.

There’s also the health concerns about brushing your teeth in the shower. A showerhead can be nasty and full of bacteria. If you do decide to do double duty in the bathroom, your toothbrush shouldn’t be left in the shower.

Research from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences led CNN to report that “potentially disease-causing germs can get trapped in showerheads and grow into biofilm, or coats of slime that deliver a bacteria blast along with your hot water.”

You’re also doing your teeth a disservice because you can’t see what you’re doing in there, compared to brushing at the sink where you generally have a mirror.

If you insist on brushing your teeth in the shower, you might want to consider the Nano-B Charcoal and Gold Antibacterial Toothbrush, which has bristles loaded with gold nano-particles. According to the company, “these particles release negatively charged ions that penetrate bacterial cells, suppressing the cell’s respiration and metabolism.”