Why Do I Have to Brush My Teeth?

There are a few reasons that modern humans have to brush our teeth to stay healthy, even though our primate cousins don’t. Grab your floss and find the answers inside!
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[nolanthiessen]

Joke's on you, I don't go to school anymore. I work....

...as a teacher. Dangit!

[Kinan.Eldari]

Wow, I didn't realise how much I still resent the "Because I told you to!" statement, and I've been a legal adult for years now!

[VictoriasChannel]

Was really hoping for some kind of ''Well brushing teeth is actually overrated'' answer.... Nothing worse than having to brush teeth just before you go to bed and you are at your laziest... 

[AlexisAlexander]

Damn, how'd he know it was late and I had school in the morning... o_o

[millymooboo]

THIS is the kind of stuff we should learn in science!
Not just this video, all of the videos on SciShow in general.
I don't enjoy learning about forces AT ALL! 

[ZekeFreek]

I hate brushing my teeth. Not the act itself mind you but the horrible after-taste of pretty much all toothpastes. I can't eat or drink anything worthwhile for 4+ hours after doing it and I'm something who is awake 20 hours a day and always has something to sip or munch on. 

As a result, I find myself only doing it a few times a week or when I have something really important that I want to look and smell nice for, like a party or a job interview or something.

[Jontman]

I'm not watching SciShow at 2 am just to be told to brush my teeth and go to bed... I do have a lecture in the morning tho so...

[fauna]

Could you do a video on "why do certain age groups require more sleep than others?" I mean, I understand that babies have to grow (which is why they sleep a lot) but why do elderly people have to sleep so much?

[gamesforyou]

I brush my teeth like what... 5 times a week, which is right before going to work.
I've had 1 cavity in my entire life, when I was a kid, basically at the time of my life when I ate more sugar.
Right now my teeth are normal, I'm 20, my breath is not bad and nothing hurts.
If you don't eat a lot of sugar,  you should be fine for the most part.

[Eruaphadian]

Hey Hank, In my government class, we were talking about how media has become very sensationalist and is more about commentator's opinions rather than reporting actual news. Which in the long run has resulted in the continued separation of political ideologies and, by extension, has bred an ever growing presence of petty hate and intolerance. I was curious if it would be at all possible to adopt the SciShow formula in regards to political news some time down the road.

SciShow does a fantastic job at giving facts and statistics while maintaining a non-biased view. Though this can easily be attributed to the nature of the scientific field, I feel that with a little effort it can be established for political news. I do hope you read this, as I feel that it is an important issue and we very much need people knowing real facts and news instead of what media thinks we want to hear.

[LynneSkysong]

Ok, now I really want to know more about ancient Egyptian dental practices.

[omg-vert]

Why can allergies not be reversed?
Asked this a few times. Can't believe you haven't picked it yet. (Out of the hundreds of thousands of questions each week.)
That was sarcasm if you can't tell. =P

[dakshinamurti]

I brush my teeth 2 or 3 times per week. I've never ever had a cavity. I hadn't gone to the dentist in about 5 years, I did so last month to fix an incisive that got a tad broken back in December after having bitten a small rock in my rice, whic shattered a small fragment. Dentist said I had great teeth. I don't know why this is, but my dental hygiene seems to work, and I am 34 now. The most I have is minimum amounts of gengivitis, and that is usual after I brush my teeth, they get a bit swole for a day or so. Maybe it's my diet... maybe it's my spit PH which is not acidic, Germs just don't seem to live very well in my mouth, or I would definitely have severe tooth decay brushing so little in comparison to mainstream recommendations. All I do is brush them with my fingers when taking a bath, plain running water. This of course isn't enough to avoid brushing completely, but it does seem to allow me to be 3 or 4 days without brushing. I will try to floss every 15 days. 

[susannahayres-thomas]

I would like you guys to do a show on the relationship between music and math. My Dad was was an engineer, a lover of math, and a musician--he played many instruments, was a composer, and a terrific Dad. He said, more Han once, that music and math were related. I'd like to learn more about it.

[watsyurdeal]

Here is an interesting question, so you just mentioned that we as a species like sugar because it's such an easily accessible form of energy. So with that that mean taste is purely what our brain makes up?

Like taste isn't a reality, it's just something our mind makes up to tell us what we need to eat. 

[Rithene]

One of the cruel jokes of growing up: when you're young and you watch a video at 8 pm and Hank Green tells you to go to bed, you refuse. In your twenties, you go, "Hmm, not a bad idea..." But you can only take a nap. 'Cause you got stuff to do.

[GilWanderley]

I will tell you why I brush my teeth after not brushing for some 10 years: $1000 in dentist bills >_>

[stephenmartinez]

2:37 that’s definitely periodontal disease, you can see the bone loss, and their solution to affixing the loose teeth. That’s so amazing how their solution is similar to the modern one: tether the loose teeth to more stable ones to keep them in place.

[davidalearmonth]

Ah, now why do really young kids have to brush their teeth, if they are just going to lose them and get new ones?  Is it to build up good habits for the future?  Or to still just prevent worse potential problems even at that age?

[KSPAtlas]

Thanks Hank, that reminder at the end was perfectly accurate