Floss conundrum

[owlmoose]

So now that I'm going to be a good girl and floss my teeth every night, I face a serious question: order of operations. I've always brushed first, then used mouthwash, which seems a highly logical order to me, but I can make equally good arguments for flossing either before or after brushing (I'm pretty convinced the mouthwash ought to be last).

[Poll #1215778]

Present your evidence! (Or your strong personal opinions, or wild guesses. Those work too.)

Comments

[bottle-of-shine.livejournal.com]

How's brushing before flossing work? THAT SEEMS SO STRANGE. But then again, I grew up watching my mom with her three different types of toothbrushes:

1. Floss front.
2. Brush with soft brush.
3. Floss back.
4. Brush with medium brush.
5. Gargle.
6. Floss entire mouth again.
7. Gargle.

My habit has developed since if I floss after brushing and just rinse, I find all sort of treasure later. NO THANKS, MOUTH. I will pass.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but back when I did floss, that was how I did it. Mouthwash seems to get the extra bits. but maybe brushing gets them better! I'll have to try it both ways and see what I like.

[concertinette.livejournal.com]

I asked my dentist once - though I didn't have "a" dentist, I had a new senior dental school student each year, but here I refer to one who I trusted - and she said it honestly didn't matter, that any pattern that inspired me to floss regularly was the right way. Personally, I find it kind of rewarding to get all sorts of gunk out from in between my teeth when I floss, so I floss first, then brush.

One might argue that the toothbrush could then knock gunk back into those crevices, at which point it becomes clear that cleanliness is an iterative process. As in, how many passes with the whisk before you stop trying to sweep the last bits of dirt into the dustpan and just scatter them back around the room?

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

any pattern that inspired me to floss regularly was the right way

Now that's interesting. And it makes sense, too -- that even if there is a way that's better, flossing is always better than not-flossing, so even if your way is suboptimal, if it keeps you in the habit, then that's the way to go.

[luciab.livejournal.com]

Floss first as directed by dentist. Because I always do everything he tells me. ;>

[angeltaisha.livejournal.com]

When I had my teeth cleaned at the dentist, they flossed first and then brushed [aside from the polishing and all that in between] so I just flossed, brushed, and then mouthwashed.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

So this is weird, that this seems to be the consensus so far, because my last dentist always flossed after everything else when they did a cleaning. But maybe my last dentist is not the paragon to model myself on...

[angeltaisha.livejournal.com]

You know what? Now that I think about it she didn't floss first- she used those little hook/pointy things [the name escapes me] and she flosses after she's done brushing. I floss first because I don't have those tools at home.

That makes better sense...it's too early here, LOL! Sorry for the confusion. Either way she gets all that gunk out before she brushes.

[penrynsdreams.livejournal.com]

I just will not floss if I have to do it at the same time as brushing. Something about just standing there with my hands in my mouth, bored out of my mind, rubs me the wrong way. So I floss when I'm watching/reading something online. My eyes and mind are occupied and I can get on with that boring tooth business. :)

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

I think this is why I resist flossing so much -- brushing teeth doesn't take very long (although I suppose it ought to take longer, if I were doing 30 seconds per quadrant like you're supposed to!), but I really resent the three minutes of my life I lose every day when I floss. ;) The dentist suggested getting the floss-on-a-stick, because then you can floss one-handed while surfing the web, and the idea is intriguing but the thought of throwing a the stick away every day seems wasteful. But your suggestion sounds like a good compromise; I should try it. :)

[waterowl.livejournal.com]

I brush with an electric toothbrush
then floss
then rinse with mouthwash

If I floss first there's too much gunk between my teeth and I find flossing too tedious and I don't floss enough. Brushing with an electric toothbrush removes most of the gunk. The toothbrush also has a timer. Mouthwash swishes away the detritus left by flossing.

I tend to do my toothwork while the tv is playing. True I can't hear the tv over the toothbrush but it is more interesting than staring in the mirror.

I highly recommend a good electric toothbrush.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

We actually have an electric toothbrush, a nice Sonicare that's been gathering dust for a couple of years now. I forget why I got out of the habit of using it, but maybe I should pick it back up.

[generalist.livejournal.com]

Hi!

When I floss, I floss and then brush. It's all engineering for me, I've found that flossing rids me of some larger between-the-teeth objects, then brushing rids me of the smaller ones hiding behind. I also have used a Philips Sonicare electric toothbrush for the past few years, it seems to work, and certainly makes tooth brushing less boring.

Cheers! generalist

[giandujabird.livejournal.com]

I agree with T, an electric toothbrush makes fast work of brushing. I myself prefer the simple Braun/Oral-B models; you don't need the silly fancy "3D" pulsing-whatever features either.

Rubber-tippy thingy first ("gum stimulators"), followed by flossing, finished off by brushing. Why some dentists/hygienists floss at the end, leaving gunky bits *missed* by brushing first, is beyond me.

Oh, gargle/wash out with water at the end. I tend to avoid bottled mouthwashes 'coz I dislike the flavor. (Also dislike any flavored flosses, but I'm weird that way. Lemme tell ya, it's tough finding unflavored flosses! 99.9876% of 'em have artificial flavors with aspartame or saccharine. Why, I ask you, why...?)

[giandujabird.livejournal.com]

You realize, of course, that Highly Important Polls regarding toothpaste types and flavors, as well as floss brands (styles) could be in order.

Ahem. ;-)

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

This could very well be in the works... ;) I'll have to think about what to ask.

[furitaurus.livejournal.com]

I think the best solution would be to brush first, then floss, then use a mouthwash. The brushing cleans what it can get to then the floss removes what the brush couldn't, then the mouthwash rinses off the detritus that was in between your teeth but, thanks to the floss, has now been deposited on the areas that your brush can get to, but there's no point brushing a second time as excess brushing can wear away your enamel.