I travel quite a lot with work and in doing so have become quite a critic of airport bathrooms and in particular their suitability for brushing your teeth. Now this may sound a little odd but as a brace wearer, you will soon understand the need to clean your teeth after eating a meal and whilst travelling, this isn’t always an easy thing to do. Firstly, there is little privacy in a public washroom and whilst there is nothing unusual about cleaning your teeth, I would prefer to not do it with an audience. There is also the issue with taps. The installation of automatic taps that dispense piping hot water may be welcome to some, but for cleaning your teeth, they are not very convenient. There is a certain knack to keeping your free hand in the right position to keep the water flowing whilst not allowing it to run too much so that it wastes water or starts to become too hot to be of any use. And then there is the issue of drying your face. Have you ever tried this with one the Dyson air blades? Impossible I can assure you.
So what have I learned over the last three years? Get over the embarrassment and if you need to clean your teeth, just do it, no one really cares and you will feel a lot better after doing it. If you can find a private cubicle (Gatwick Airport has these in some locations) then so much better but if not, try to get a basin nearest the far wall to be assured a little privacy. If you can find a tap that hasn’t been used recently, the water should run a little colder which is always a bonus but get used to brushing your teeth with as little water as possible. A couple of paper napkins in your pocket is always useful to dry your face and toothbrush and are usually readily available in airport restaurants.
Do you have any tips for brushing your teeth whilst travelling?
