That’s kind of epic.
This. We had a guy, retired now, who had serious gum disease and had to brush 3 times a day; since he worked without taking an official lunch, where else? Pretty much makes sense to me.
FTR it didn’t weird me out. 
I dunno. Even I could pull that off, and I’m not particularly flexible.
True. Still… Dude was washing his feet in the sink! At work!
In Japan, people regularly not only brush their teeth at work, they also gargle…loudly. Oh, and did I mention that the sink for this purpose is in the teachers’ room? My outside face is like ヽ（´ー｀）┌ but my inside face is {{|└(>o< )┘|}}
I’m in the, “Eww, that’s kinda gross.” camp
But also in the, “This is completely appropriate.” camp
I don’t like it and think it’s also kinda weird, but, really, there’s no good reason to oppose it.
I, too, brush my teeth at work, but in the restroom, not in the lounge. I work a 12 (sometimes 14) hour day and can’t tolerate having fuzzy teeth for that length of time.
Ok, can the “ew, gross” people explain what, exactly, is gross about it? You spit in the sink, but others are also washing fecal matter down the sink, and the toothbrush never touches the sink, so no germ transfer there. You’re in a room with people who are peeing and pooping, but there’s nothing magically magnetic about a toothbrush that germs would be attracted to it - you inhale those same germs with each breath.
Phrased another way: what’s gross about washing your teeth and tongue that’s not gross about washing your hands?
There’s a lot of spitting going on
There’s strange noises
It’s pretty… intimate. I mean, you’re looking into somebody’s mouth.
Except for handwashing, which is standard and accepted, the rest of our bathroom activities are done in private. Brushing your teeth crosses the line of ‘accepted, public activity in the restroom’
It’s not commonly done and therefore sticks out as odd. Add in the weird noises and vocal spitting and it’s just a bit weird. Not egregious, but weird.
Since I am a four to five times a day brusher, I am fortunate enough to have never worked in a place with anything but single restrooms available. However, I would certainly brush there rather than not brush after eating lunch. To me, that is the ewwwww. (No matter what the ADA says about two times a day)
Jesus wept, this is not a normal reaction, surely? Perhaps the person who is innocently brushing their teeth is wondering “Why the fuck is this weirdo looking into my mouth?”.
I brush my teeth about 6 times a day, because it really bothers me if I don’t. So I brush them at work if I’m in the office, and am not above brushing them in a restaurant bathroom or the bathroom in the 7-11. Anywhere with a sink is good by me.
I am not sure the results of those guidelines to you personally but I have taught both of my children to brush as often as I do (four or five times per day and YES, they did so at school as well). My son is 23 and my daughter is 13 and neither has every had a cavity. If two days a day is good, four is twice as good. I honestly have never thought of comparing an office shower to the brushing of teeth. I would consider it more comparable to washing ones face which I also don’t find odd at the work place. Many of my employees keep toothbrushes and floss in the rest room cabinets.
I am with you. As a matter of fact, when I smoked, I brushed after every cigarette because I hated the way my mouth tasted. I smoked for 20 years and there wasn’t any evidence of staining on my teeth. Although my lungs are a different story.
As far as the ew factor goes, well, yeah, people cleaning their teeth might be squicky, but then so are the noises and odors emitted while pissing and shitting and farting and what not. Yes, “ew”, but that room is where you go to do those things that are otherwise objectionable to do in public. That’s what the room is for. So I do my best to ignore any squicky/embarrassing stuff others are doing because, really, where else would be appropriate to do these things when one can’t simply dash home in an instant?
Maybe not so much the kisses…
During your annual review.
I disagree.
When I go to the urologist or gynecologist, the doctor shuts the door. When I go to the dentist, he does not.
I’m kind of wondering, who spends all this time in the bathroom, looking in someones mouth. Where else are you looking. :rolleyes:
Shitting is probably the grossest, most private non-sexual thing a person does on a regular basis. This means if you are hanging out in a room made for shitting, basically anything goes.