not flossing your teeth is like...

Do you floss? While talking about oral hygiene with some friends last year,* we realized that although everyone brushes regularly (I hope!), there are a lot of people who don't floss regularly -- or at all.

One of the girls said, "Not flossing your teeth is like not wiping your butt." I don't know if I'd go that far, but I do think that flossing is important. Whenever it's late at night and I feel too tired to floss, her words jump into my brain and I cringe. And then I reach for the floss.

I started flossing regularly a couple of years ago, but I have to admit, for such a simple habit, it was a hard one to form. Apparently I'm not the only one who thought so, because Leo at Zen Habits wrote "The Tiny Guide to Creating the Flossing Habit."

P.S. This comic at The Oatmeal made me laugh.

(Illustration by Mark A. Hicks, via Discovery Education)

*This makes us sounds like dorks. Maybe we are, but at least you know we have nice teeth.