Bryce Harper reacted to his newfound viral fame after he set the internet ablaze with his unique method for brushing his teeth, shown in a “get ready with me” video he posted earlier this week on his TikTok.
In the roughly eight-minute video, Harper, at one point, was seen squeezing toothpaste from the tube into his mouth directly before beginning to brush.
Since then, the two-time National League MVP’s 600,000-plus TikTok followers — and even more on the internet — have chimed in on his style of brushing his teeth. On Thursday, Harper spoke about the reaction, telling Phillies Nation that he’s “done it forever.”
“I mean, it’s gone viral, so I’m happy about that,” Harper told the outlet. “It always helps with my videos when it goes viral, so if that’s what makes it go viral, then I’ll take it.”
“It kind of happens when you post a little bit, right?” he also said.
The post even led the Associated Press to reach out to a dentist with the American Dental Association to check on Harper’s method.
“It is not suggested to do it that way,” Ohio dentist Andrew Zucker, a consumer advisor for the ADA, told the AP.
“I don’t think there’s anything to be gained,” Zucker later said. “The only thing to be lost is just wasting a whole bunch of toothpaste.”
“Just put a little pea-sized bit of it on a toothbrush,” he added.
The Padres also had some fun with the video by adding a special note to his bio when he came up to bat on Tuesday night at Petco Park.
“SQUIRTS TOOTHPASTE INTO HIS MOUTH INSTEAD OF ONTO A TOOTHBRUSH WHEN BRUSHING HIS TEETH,” the scoreboard read when Harper came up to the plate.