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by ecb_penguin 166 days ago
> especially for brushing teeth

As someone in a dental family and with excellent teeth, you absolutely do not need to brush your teeth on a flight.

3 comments

Not everyone is the same. My teeth and gums are not that good and I definitely feel much better brushing them after every meal (though I'm aware I should wait after acidic food).

(time-wise, I started increasing brushing after the situation got worse. The root cause for the worsening was not seeing a dentist for two years. Don't do that, definitely see a dentist periodically. And the dentist seems happy with my brushing decision, need to do as much as I can to prevent plaque formation)

For airplanes, I buy three small bottles of water before flight (15hr flight). And I use that for drinking, rinsing and washing my toothbrush. While we cannot bring bottled water from outside the airport to the embarking area, there are usually shops in that area that sell small bottles.

As someone who's never had even a single cavity, when I brush it, it's not because of dental health but for comfort.
Sure, I hate the way my teeth feel if I don't brush. But I also don't care enough to use a gross plane bathroom.

If I'm that concerned, I'd use some mouthwash.

If I'm taking an 8 hour flight after hours at the airport, transit, etc. and am already using the plane bathroom for physiological reasons, I don't mind a quick brush with bottled water...
16 hour flight?
If you have good dental hygiene missing a brushing shouldn’t be a big deal. It can wait until you reach your destination.
It's fine. If you're consistent, you can go a few days and it won't make a difference to your health.
You'll survive.