A slew of well-intentioned commandments, which are pithy about the goal and hazy about how to reach it; instructions, based on the interpretation of your parents, on how to practise the commandments; your observations in seclusion and corresponding tinkering with what you are doing; advice from all and sundry drawn from their understanding of some of the commandments; an ongoing reinterpretation of the commandments and subsequent exhortations by experts to reform your practice; more conscious observation and retraining; and finally, you advocate a particular interpretation. These stages sound very familiar, don't they, reminding you of the process of religious indoctrination, and the inculcation and imbibing of rites and rituals?
Now, consider oral hygiene. The commandment - thou shall keep thy mouth clean. The goal is unambiguous, but not so the means. The goal is a combination of burnishing your teeth to a sparkling white, ridding the gaps between your teeth of once-comestible debris, cleaning your gums and palette and tongue. The goal could be a subset of the combination depending on how you understand 'mouth.' Then, the means and tools. A variety of brushes, toothpastes, and brushing techniques that brighten your teeth; the near-existential dilemma - to floss or not to floss; the right tongue cleaner that is to be chosen from a plethora of right tongue cleaners; a mouthwash that is distinguished not only by its flavor and mouthfeel but also the salutary effects it has - an elixir for your mouth.
Whether you can be sure as to who taught you to wield a brush - your mum, your dad, or both - is determined by your age. But, some advice remains fresh in memory: don't brush for too long, or you'll lose the enamel and struggle with both hot and cold foods.
The private practice breeds quirks - do you start brushing your teeth from the left molars and proceed clockwise to the right, or focus first on the teeth you bare in every smile? How many back and forths can truly clean your teeth?
Then the advice - where on the brush do you pop that dollop of toothpaste from the tube? On a tangent, where do you squeeze the tube? Should you be using a plastic or a metallic tongue cleaner? Or, does the ribbed back of your brush's head suffice?
Visit the expert and you always learn something new - do not brush your teeth in long horizontal strokes, make tiny gentle circles, each focused on a tooth; wipe your gums clean with a finger rather than have the bristles of the brush pierce them; brush twice a day. Accumulation of information invariably leads to attendant action, requiring awareness and persistence in the face of failure reflected in the mirror.
Whether you can be sure as to who taught you to wield a brush - your mum, your dad, or both - is determined by your age. But, some advice remains fresh in memory: don't brush for too long, or you'll lose the enamel and struggle with both hot and cold foods.
The private practice breeds quirks - do you start brushing your teeth from the left molars and proceed clockwise to the right, or focus first on the teeth you bare in every smile? How many back and forths can truly clean your teeth?
Then the advice - where on the brush do you pop that dollop of toothpaste from the tube? On a tangent, where do you squeeze the tube? Should you be using a plastic or a metallic tongue cleaner? Or, does the ribbed back of your brush's head suffice?
Visit the expert and you always learn something new - do not brush your teeth in long horizontal strokes, make tiny gentle circles, each focused on a tooth; wipe your gums clean with a finger rather than have the bristles of the brush pierce them; brush twice a day. Accumulation of information invariably leads to attendant action, requiring awareness and persistence in the face of failure reflected in the mirror.
Once you are taken with a theory, you cannot but dole out advice to others around you, what with your love for all humanity. You act as conduit for the generous pointers you got from your benefactors while appending your own experiential maxims. Yet your foolish listeners contravene the objective empirical axioms you aver. It's not that you aren't wise enough to ignore their rants and taunts, but you find purpose in sharing what you've learned, what you know to be the truth, and so you cannot but argue.
History tells us that choices, in collusion with a yearning to be right, engender spats, disputes, rifts, and revulsion - just think of the approaches to God offered by the myriad religions and the resulting strife. So how can we not quibble over hygiene and its many theories? Also, unlike in the case of divinity, no one can question the need for hygiene. Cleanliness may be next to Godliness, but, notions of hygiene are often more jarring than ideas of God.
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