Re:Floss Before Brushing
by aaronbrethorst on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @01:15PM
(#45749934)
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.
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Re:Floss Before Brushing
by stronglikedan on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @01:42PM
(#45750388)
My dentist says the opposite, since toothbrush bristles don't get between the teeth. According to her, brushing after flossing just pushes all the dislodged stuff back between the teeth.
In my opinion, it doesn't really matter which you do first, as long as you rinse well after each step. I brush first - get most of it with the brush and rinse, then get the rest of it with the floss and rinse.
Re:Floss Before Brushing
by peacebeard on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @02:17PM
(#45750900)
General awareness of if what you’re doing is successfully getting stuff out of your teeth beats following a guiding principle and trusting it’s automatically working.
Surfactants in toothpaste should prevent anything sticking while brushing.
1. Rinse with water.
2. Brush without toothpaste.
3. Floss
4. Brush with toothpaste.
There's the argument that flossing afterwards would drag some fluoride/nHAP to the space between your teeth which wouldn't be reachable by the toothbrush.
So I floss during brushing. One pass with the toothbrush, floss, second pass with toothbrush, rinse.
I've also seen some tiktoks with people coating the floss with toothpaste so it reaches in between the teeth.
Well, the benefit here is the application of fluoride, which isn't something most people are actively thinking about maximizing.
Re:Floss Before Brushing
by jauntywundrkind on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @01:48PM
(#45750478)
My logic was that brushing deposits fluoride onto the teeth, and that I want that there.
Flossing feels not that different from following up toothbrushing by rinsing (bad): it's removing a bunch of the amazing good stuff the toothpaste is designed to deposit.
Re:Floss Before Brushing
by Traubenfuchs on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @01:29PM
(#45750190)
I have talked about this flossing topic surprisingly often and it's one of the reasons I believe the majority of people are idiots with zero critical thinking. Especially in regards to health. No one seems to read inlets or understand them. It's awful.
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.
How does brushing remove it then? I'm guessing it's still in between your teeth.
Re:Floss Before Brushing
by stronglikedan on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @01:43PM
(#45750409)
And just rinsing removes it.