So I should not have been too surprised to walk into a beit midrash today and see a pile of pamphlets, published by Oral-B, entitled "Mouth health: halachot of tooth brushing on Shabbat". After a substantial discussion of the sources, the pamphlet concludes of course that it is perfectly acceptable to brush teeth on Shabbat! And then it has a couple pages of ads for their specific toothbrushes. But even these are religiously oriented; the catch-phrase at the top of one of them comes from probably the only Biblical verse to mention white teeth.
Here is a partial scan of the pamphlet. My roommate and I think it's hilarious.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtcxopFbfWjPMF19tgi_fmV41BOwB0xMP7xDZHJN0p3HVJJh-fp2DQul_dRFLOCjGTUa3wg1Cti__aszDzbBr5p90gCh4_CZUthYif6HVS-QxVthnqFPP7YUnM1Kz-mr0um1p/s400/scan0001.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC04q5Xgx09OKeoR-t9RZD5wDOqZjj3j9oRvxT4tpBC8QX7SB2g_WcMfc_H4PbXjkbpxMpP-7jE9rlSeZLpsTn7fk89_ZnGMqS8LmNf_Ucpo19foJD_GrY4TPyLxxH97F6PZpN/s400/scan0002.jpg)
P.S. There seems to be a discrepancy between how some of the sources are quoted in the pamphlet versus in the article I linked to above. As you might expect, the pamphlet understands them to be much more lenient. Having not seen the sources myself I can't tell you for sure which interpretation is more accurate. But it's clear who has the bigger ulterior motive. :)
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