Says I'm arguing when I'm not

My bf always says I'm starting stuff when I'm just trying to tell him now I feel. Told him earlier (and many times before) that I just want him to brush his teeth more often (he has bad breath) and all he could say to my 3 paragraphs was ok and I was like it's like you don't give a fudge (but the other f word lol) and he just said eh so I told him he could just go and to have a good night he just said why I'm not doing anything you're the one starting shit and then we went into how everytime I tell him how I feel it's me starting a fight. I just told him I didn't want to talk to someone who doesn't care about anything I have to say and he responded but I just left it on read bc I'm over it. My ex was abusive and used to do this to me and I'm not trying to deal with it again.

Letting someone know they need to brush their teeth bc they have bad breath is not a sensitive subject. He's a grown man I shouldn't even have to say anything about this to him. I've tried to talk to him about this often bc brushing your teeth only twice a week is just pure laziness and it's gross.