Woman's efforts to persuade unhygienic boyfriend to brush his teeth sparks debate

Just as the saying goes, "Love is blind," people at times tend to overlook the flaws in their loved ones. In some cases, the flaws are overlooked so much that a while later, they become intolerable. That was the case for a woman who recently shared the repercussions she faced when she ignored her boyfriend's unhygienic habit for a long. Posting her concerns on Reddit,  u/Confident_Might_2914 shared her futile attempts to encourage her boyfriend to brush his teeth. When she voiced her worries on the platform wondering if it was unfair to nag him over hygiene, the internet gave her mixed opinions.

The 25-year-old woman had been in a long-term relationship with her 24-year-old boyfriend who brushed his teeth only once in a few weeks or even months. "I’m super sensitive to strong smells and he rarely brushes his teeth," the girlfriend pointed out. Though this had been her boyfriend's habit ever since the beginning of their relationship, she was not bothered by the bad hygiene during the early years. Lately, she couldn't tolerate this weird habit and to sort things out, she tried to instill better hygiene practices in her boyfriend.

"I’ve tried everything to try and encourage him to start taking care of himself," she wrote and added, "For example, asking him to brush his teeth at the same time I do, buying him flavored toothpaste, buying him extremely soft toothbrushes, reminding him at times that are convenient for him, etc." But all her attempts were in vain. There was no improvement in her boyfriend's hygiene practices. "There’s always an excuse to not brush his teeth or he just says, 'I’ll do it later,' but later never comes," the worried girlfriend wrote and added, "If we are nearby I can’t help but mention it and nag him about it." Asking the Reddit community if she was wrong to "nag" him, the woman received mixed responses.

Some users reassured the woman that she was right to correct his bad hygiene practices. "Your boyfriend is disgusting. I wouldn’t even be friends with someone who didn’t practice personal hygiene, let alone date them. Ask him how he feels about wearing dentures because that’s where he’s headed. He’s going to lose his teeth at a young age. He’s also at risk of acquiring systemic infections," commented u/Ok_Perception1131. "Girly what are you doing with a guy that brushes his teeth every few weeks/months? You are not his mother, it doesn't matter how much you love him, if he's not cleaning his teeth regularly, imagine what else he's not doing? This sounds like something from my nightmares honestly. Please do not put up with this," suggested u/Stride101r.

A few users pointed out that the woman was wrong for tolerating the boyfriend's habits in the beginning and staying in the relationship for so long. "You dated this man knowing he had bad hygiene and bad breath. Now that the lust glow is gone you've realized that you want your boyfriend to have basic hygiene. But he doesn't and he won't. Why should he? He still gets girlfriends and doesn't even brush his teeth. This is who he is, this is who are you partnering with. YTA for staying in this relationship" wrote u/ApprehensiveCream571. "How do you even get to the 'lust' stage in this situation though? If someone doesn’t brush their teeth I am pretty sure you would realize from the first interactions," commented u/skylarfox2709.