I'm surprised that this isn't self-evident. Flossing dislodges stuff from between your teeth. Brushing beforehand means you don't have an opportunity to remove that stuff.
Why don't you have the opportunity? Flossing removes the stuff.
Floss Before Brushing
21–30 of 92 posts
Re: Floss Before Brushing
#22I thought the ideal order was brush, floss, mouthwash.
Using mouthwash every time is not ideal because most mouthwashes disrupt your oral microbiome which will result in undesired side-effects like teeth staining etc.
Re: Floss Before Brushing
#23I stubbornly floss every day and every yearly checkup my dentist tells me it does not help and recommends me to stop doing it.
If you floss too hard or aggressively then that can be bad for your teeth/gums. If you floss only rarely causing your gums to bleed when you do and you don't wash or brush away the dried blood, that can also be bad. But I don't believe that any dentist in good faith would advise not to floss, if done properly.
Re: Floss Before Brushing
#24Is there empirical evidence that this order is more effective?
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Re: Floss Before Brushing
#25This is how I've always done it and I was blown away when I found out people do it backwards. It makes no logical sense.
Why not? Brushing and swishing removes most of the particles, and then you floss to reach the tight spaces.
Re: Floss Before Brushing
#26I thought the ideal order was brush, floss, mouthwash.
No, mouthwash after brushing removes the fluoride that the toothpaste has just deposited. Similarly, avoid rinsing after brushing.
There's not really a 'good' time to use mouthwash. Maybe an hour or more after a meal, if you're in a rush - but no sooner than that, as the tooth enamel will still be softened by the food.
Re: Floss Before Brushing
#27I'm surprised that this isn't self-evident. Flossing dislodges stuff from between your teeth. Brushing beforehand means you don't have an opportunity to remove that stuff.
Why don't you have the opportunity? Flossing removes the stuff.
Not completely. It might end up on the floss but it might also end up on your teeth or gums.
Re: Floss Before Brushing
#28Is there empirical evidence that this order is more effective?
The article cites a study saying that it is.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29741239/
(a study linked in the article)
Re: Floss Before Brushing
#29I stubbornly floss every day and every yearly checkup my dentist tells me it does not help and recommends me to stop doing it.
Maybe your dentist just needs more business? Im half kidding but i once had a dentist that told me I had 4 cavities that needed to be fixed, but when I to a 2nd dentist, she spotted zero cavities
IIRC there were studies saying that flossing isn't as great as people suppose it is.
My completely uneducated guess is that it's marginally useful for people with good teeth (shape, spacing) because debris doesn't accumulate as easily, and brushes are effective.
For my case (crooked teeth, very narrow gaps) it's a great helper to get out the debris, morsels of food etc. that the brush can't get out.
Re: Floss Before Brushing
#30Is there empirical evidence that this order is more effective?
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