And the mystery is - My friend Rachel once met the person she believes to be the only other individual in the world who wets his toothbrush after putting on the toothpaste, like she does. And really, it's true - Who does that? Most people rinse off their brushes first, and then squirt on the paste. But the question, before I solved this great mystery that has long perplexed mankind, is...Why? Why before and not after?
The solution - The answer lies in the question:
"Why does everyone else wet their toothbrush first?"
Key word: Wet.
If you think of putting water on your toothbrush as wetting it, I suppose it doesn't matter the order in which you do it. However, I believe that most of us do not think of it as merely wetting the toothbrush. I submit that the rest of us think of it as rinsing the toothbrush. Eliminating what unknown funk has settled upon the bristles since it was last used. And, whether it makes a difference to the germs or not, we still think if it as rinsing, and not wetting, which logically explains why we put water on the brush before toothpaste.
There you have it. Mystery solved. I also think that Myth-Busters tackle this one in a future episode. There have been others about toothbrushes, but I don't think there is one about the futility/necessity of rinsing a toothbrush prior to use.
3 comments:
Hmmm... Perplexing ponderments! I too apply my toothpaste and THEN I wet the brush. i guess that makes me a brush wetter. The thought of rinsing the bristles had never occured to me being as the bone chilling distain for the feeling of 'dry' toothpaste rubbing all over my incisors without a thin layer of moisture to instantly help dispurse the gelatinous muck, is my first and foremost concern. It makes me shiver just thinking about it.
WHAT? How have Rachel and I not connected on this?? I'll have you know that I WET my toothbrush AFTER I put on the toothpaste, like normal people. Like people of god and junk.
I rinse my brush prior to use and then wet it AFTER putting the paste on. And I rinse it again when I'm done. I must be really weird.
Word verification definition of the day: "Lessie": Lassie's less-intelligent half-brother whose dad is a mutt.
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