It's A Really Long Time

If it kills germs on contact, why do I have to rinse for 60 seconds?

 Because that's what the instructions say you need to do.  Don't question antiseptic authority!  


So how do I maintain good dental hygiene without selling out to The Man?  It really seems hypocritical of them to tell me that something works on contact if I have to use it for more than one second.  Maybe they're assuming I'm an idiot who doesn't know how to swish something around my mouth so it contacts all surfaces.  But that's the problem...I'm not an idiot, and I actually have awareness of my surroundings as well as my mouth.  I believe I'm fully capable of determining when antiseptic has come into contact with all of my teeth and gums.  I believe I'm fully capable of determining when to spit the stuff out rather than relying on some arbitrarily defined time that's printed on the bottle.  The alternative is just scary...where they've lied to us and it actually takes antiseptic 60 seconds to kill germs and those of us who don't rigidly adhere to that time have effectively been doing nothing this whole time.  Which is it, antiseptic company?!