verbs - ～て vs ～てから for sequencing activities

This is potentially much simpler than I'm expecting but when simply ordering events within a sequence are there any contextual differences between using ～て and ～てから?

For example, if I was talking about my morning routine and wanted to say I eat breakfast and then brush my teeth I could say it using either ～て or ～てから.

毎朝、朝ごはんを食べて歯を磨きます。
Every morning I eat breakfast and brush my teeth.

毎朝、朝ごはんを食べてから歯を磨きます。
Every morning I brush my teeth AFTER I eat breakfast.

My interpretation is that meaning wise, these two sentences are essentially the same, first I eat my breakfast then I brush my teeth. Is this correct? Does ～てから place emphasis on one of the two events over the other or are these just two different ways of saying the same thing? How are these sentences different? In a situation like this why would I choose one over the other, is it simply a stylistic choice? Is there some nuance I'm missing here?

Answer

This question is trickier than it may appear to many J-learners and here is why.

OP's first sentence means what s/he stated in English NOT only because 「て」 was used but also because the two activities happen to be those that could not take place simultaneously -- "brush teeth" and "eat".

「て」 can certainly signify the sequence of activities, but it can also signify "juxtaposition".

See definition 一-5 in http://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%A6?dic=daijisen&oid=12537100

This means that if the two activities chosen to form the example sentences had been "eat breakfast" and "watch TV", which could easily be performed simultaneously, the 「て」 would have been ambiguous in function and meaning.　If one of those two activities still took place before the other, using 「てから」 would have been the only possible choice in order to clarify the sequence.

We would often say something like:

「[朝]{あさ}はいつも[朝]{あさ}シャンして、コーヒー[飲]{の}んで、[新聞読]{しんぶんよ}んで・・・みたいな[感]{かん}じかなあ。」

When a Japanese-speaker says this, the 「て/で」(depends on verb) would usually be for juxtaposition, not sequence. The three activities mentioned could take place in any order.

That is the difference between 「～～て」 and 「～～てから」.

＊「朝シャン」 is a slangy word for "shampoo in the morning".