# Do you share the tube of toothpaste in your family?



## kenny4528

Hi, a funny doubt came to me: in your family, do all of members share a tube of toothpaste or one uses his own, or other ways? In my case, a familiy of five, we share a tube of toothpaste.


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## MOMO2

So do we.
And if a friend pops in and stays overnight he/she will be using the same tube. And his/her own tooth-brush.


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## rusita preciosa

In my family, we use different tubes, for two reasons: separate bathrooms + different members of the family like different flavors.


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## MOMO2

rusita preciosa said:


> In my family, we use different tubes, for two reasons: separate bathrooms + different members of the family like different flavors.


 
So do we.

In my family we have a "ladies room" and a "Gents room". This happens for practical purposes. And in the gents' there are 2 different flavours, still if my son wants to clean his teeth in my (I am the lucky ONE only lady in this family) bathroom, he will be using the tube he finds. That's it.

By answering Kenny I meant we (in Italy) do not mind sharing the toothpaste tube within the family members.


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## kenny4528

Cheers guys~


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## Tagarela

Hi,

No, we don't. Each one has his or her own tube even if we share the bathrooms and use the same flavour. Actually I have two tubes (and two toothbrushes), another in my backpack that I take to university. If I am going to stay overnight in anyone else's house, I take my tube with me too. 

Good bye.:


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## mirx

Tagarela said:


> Hi,
> 
> No, we don't. Each one has his or her own tube even if we share the bathrooms and use the same flavour. Actually I have two tubes (and two toothbrushes), another in my backpack that I take to university. If I am going to stay overnight in anyone else's house, I take my tube with me too.
> 
> Good bye.:



 This is new and very interesting to me. I found Kenny's question a bit odd, I would have just assumed that everyone shared the same toothpaste tube. Tagarela, can you let us know why this is different in your case? Is this a family thing or is it shared by most Brazilians?  Cheers.


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## kenny4528

> I found Kenny's question a bit odd, I would have just assume that everyone shared the same toothpaste tube.


Ya, I found my question odd(funny?) too, but I hadn't assumed that the others' situation would be the same as mine. Like, though I don't mind using the same one tube of toothpaste with other members of my family, I do mind drinking, say, the can of coke they don't finish.


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## pickarooney

When I saw the question I thought 'of course, who doesn't?' but actually none of us (4) use the same toothpaste. There's the normal one for me, the teeth-whitening one for her, the non-abrasive kiddies toothpaste for the wee man and the littlest has yet to spring a tooth.


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## MOMO2

kenny4528 said:


> Ya, I found my question odd(funny?) too, but I hadn't assumed that the others' situation would be the same as mine. Like, though I don't mind using the same one tube of toothpaste with other members of my family, I do mind drinking, say, the can of coke they don't finish.


 
The can is a bit different. It was touched by lips. Lips and saliva. 

there is no contact between the paste and the brush (that had previous contact with the mouth and saliva).

The point is hygene, isn't it? So, no saliva touch, no hygene problem.


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## Tagarela

Hello,



mirx said:


> This is new and very interesting to me. I found Kenny's question a bit odd, I would have just assumed that everyone shared the same toothpaste tube. Tagarela, can you let us know why this is different in your case? Is this a family thing or is it shared by most Brazilians?  Cheers.



Well, I guess that it is a family thing. 
I and my sister share a bathroom, my parents share another one. So there are two tubes per bathroom. It is because also that each one has his or her place to keep body hygiene stuffs. 

The tube in the backpack is for a practice reason, because if I have to take the toothbrush and the toothpaste from the bathroom to my backpack every morning, I'll surely forget it some days as it used to happen before I adopt this habbit. 

Good bye.:


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## Grop

I currently live alone but I used to share the toothpaste. I don't know what they do in other French families.

(Also many young people here wouldn't mind drinking from the same bottle unless they were sick).

When staying at a friend's place for a short time I always take my own toothbrush, razor, soap and shampoo, but I think I could use their toothpaste if, for some reason, I didn't have any.


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## Frank78

I live with my girlfriend. We share toothpaste, soap, towels, shampoo, shower gel and even razors 
But we don´t share a toothbrush.

I don´t mind sharing a bottle of beer with my friend, too.

The more bacteria you´re exposed the healthier you are. Those who grow up in an aseptical home are more often ill or even allergical because their immune system can´t handle it.


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## effeundici

I've never used toothpaste; it's useless. A tootbrush is enough.


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## mijel

effeundici said:


> I've never used toothpaste; it's useless. A tootbrush is enough.



I hear this reasoning every now and then, and it has a point. It's true that some toothpastes don't have any effect besides the obvious cosmetic ones -which I personally consider enough-.

However, that's not true for all toothpastes. All those endorsed by the American Dental Association are required to contain a certain amount of fluoride*, which has been proven to prevent caries. There's a paper published last Wednesday on the subject available via pubmed (abstract is free).

*certain means not so much that it causes fluorosis

BTW: I do share the -fluiride- toothpaste with my family


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## B.P.R.

We share our toothpaste, too, but flavours keep changing since no one of us mind the scent their breath is. However, if I went to spend the night at a friend's, I'd take the spare toothpast tube with me, although my friend wouldn't mind to share their tube. Strange, right? 

Atte,
Belén


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## TRG

My wife and I used different toothpaste for years, but then she convinced me to use the same as she because my brand was too hard to find in the store.  So now we use the same brand, but not necessarily the same tube.  And we lived happily ever after


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## Goddess Mystyxx

We have one big tube in each bathroom. We don't mind sharing toothpastes but NEVER toothbrush. I also keep a tube in my vanity bag for use at work.


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## Trisia

As far as I know, most families here do share the toothpaste. The general rule is one tube/bathroom rather than one for each person.

In my family, we do the same, except one of my sisters uses a whole bunch of different types (sometimes those for sensitive teeth, or some miracle whitening paste, etc.) so there's always a spare in the girls' bathroom.


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## Majalj

pickarooney said:


> When I saw the question I thought 'of course, who doesn't?' but actually none of us (4) use the same toothpaste. There's the normal one for me, the teeth-whitening one for her, the non-abrasive kiddies toothpaste for the wee man and the littlest has yet to spring a tooth.


 
Same here


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## dana Haleana

effeundici said:


> I've never used toothpaste; it's useless. A tootbrush is enough.


 
This is quite funny  (no offense meant). I remember my mom telling me that they would use salt and coconut husk to brush their teeth during their "old days"


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## Goddess Mystyxx

dana Haleana said:


> This is quite funny  (no offense meant). I remember my mom told me that during the "old days", they would salt and coconut husk to brush their teeth.


 
 Coconut husk? wow, thats painless


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## SaritaSarang

No, because we do not share a bathroom. We would constantly have to go back and forth between bathrooms to get the toothpaste, that's silly when you can buy everyone their own tube for a dollar at the store.


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## justjukka

We share if we are using the same kind.  If one of us wants to use a different kind, we don't share, unless I want to try the new kind, too.  When one of the tubes is used up, we share again, and then decide which one we prefer.  It's an on-going process.

I think I've shared my tooth_brush_ more often with my husband than I have my laptop.


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## Uriel-

I've always shared toothpaste. Soap and shampoo are up for grabs, too.  I draw the line at toothbrushes, used towels, and washcloths.


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## roxcyn

Hi Kenny!  Great question.  I believe it varies from family to family.  In my family we all buy our own toothpaste.  I prefer one with Novamin in it.  I wouldn't dare share my razor, soap, towel or toothbrush with my family.


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## DarkChild

No, we don't. It is unhygienic and should not be shared.


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## Awwal12

kenny4528 said:


> Hi, a funny doubt came to me: in your family, do all of members share a tube of toothpaste or one uses his own, or other ways? In my case, a familiy of five, we share a tube of toothpaste.


I see nothing unusual here, but we use two toothpaste tubes, for two people (I just prefer a different kind of toothpaste).


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## JamesM

DarkChild said:


> No, we don't. It is unhygienic and should not be shared.



I'm curious about this. Assuming that the tip of the tube never touches the brush, what is unhygienic about sharing a toothpaste tube?  I'm sure it's just a cultural difference, but if I thought that a product coming out of a container could not be shared hygienically, I'd have problems with honey jars and chocolate syrup containers.

Where does the lack of hygiene figure into sharing the tube?  Do you have the same feeling about sharing a bar of soap?


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## iobyo

Uriel- said:


> Soap and shampoo are up for grabs, too.



Bars of soap or liquid soap?


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## roxcyn

JamesM said:


> I'm curious about this. Assuming that the tip of the tube never touches the brush, what is unhygienic about sharing a toothpaste tube?  I'm sure it's just a cultural difference, but if I thought that a product coming out of a container could not be shared hygienically, I'd have problems with honey jars and chocolate syrup containers.
> 
> Where does the lack of hygiene figure into sharing the tube?  Do you have the same feeling about sharing a bar of soap?



When the tube touches the toothbrush.  It's bound to happen even if you are very careful.


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## JamesM

But isn't the toothpaste something that will kill germs and nasty stuff?  I mean, it seems like bar soap would also be a problem, then, because people's dirty hands touch them.


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## Outsider

We often do share the toothpaste, though Roxcyn's post has just planted an image in my head which may make me reconsider.


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## OneStroke

We share, and flavours (and brands) also keep changing. The flavour is unimportant to us as long as dental hygiene is maintained.


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## Minnie121728

kenny4528 said:


> Hi, a funny doubt came to me: in your family, do all of members share a tube of toothpaste or one uses his own, or other ways? In my case, a familiy of five, we share a tube of toothpaste.



We all share the same tube, sometimes I buy a diff' flavor for kids


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## velisarius

We used to share one tube of toothpaste per bathroom. Me being a "squeeze the tube from the bottom" person and the rest of my family being incorrigible "squeeze from the top" slobs, I eventually took to keeping my neatly- squeezed tube for my own exclusive use - and mine lasts longer of course.


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## perpend

Sharing toothpaste is like double-dipping when you have chips and dip. Ick.

I've gone without brushing before sharing a tube.

I think it is in fact unhygienic, for bacteria-phobic people, and for the rest of us. I don't think this is a case where the more germs you get, the better. They used to say that about eating dirt also.

In family situations, of course, you have to share due to practicality.

I squeeze from the bottom as much as possible, since the tube of paste otherwise becomes something of a slippery salamander in the bathroom.

Squeezing from the bottom keeps the tube in proper form.


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## Stéphane89

In my family, we never shared the tube of toothpaste.


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## Radioh

Three(used to be five) members of my family always share only one toothpaste tube. Personally, I don't mind sharing the tube with others. It tightens our relationship, I think.


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## Rejsi

Uriel- said:


> I've always shared toothpaste. Soap and shampoo are up for grabs, too.  I draw the line at toothbrushes, used towels, and washcloths.


Haha.  In my family we share used towels and keep them on the rack for quite a few days.  Otherwise we would need to run the washer every other day.



JamesM said:


> But isn't the toothpaste something that will kill germs and nasty stuff?  I mean, it seems like bar soap would also be a problem, then, because people's dirty hands touch them.


Well toothpaste and soap don't actually kill germs.  They just wash them off of your bodily surfaces.


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