Brushing and flossing your teeth at least once a day is a good way to keep your teeth healthy. Timing is everything and it matters when you're brushing your teeth or if avoiding rinsing right after brushing. The same applies when you floss.
Generally, we are taught to brush our teeth and then use floss to remove anything the toothbrush missed. Even at the dentist's office, they follow the same steps. It makes you wonder if there is a difference if you floss before or after brushing.
Below are the American Dental Association recommendation for flossing and why some believe you should floss before brushing.
What's the reason for flossing first?
A small 2018 study of two test groups showed flossing before brushing reduced whole plaque significantly more compared with those who brushed before flossing. Fluoride concentrations were also much higher in those who flossed first. There wasn't a significant difference in marginal plaque between the two groups.
Flossing helps to loosen plaque and stuck food residue between teeth to help prevent tartar buildup. Sensodyne says that flossing before you brush can result in more particles getting flushed out from those hard-to-reach spaces between the teeth, while also retaining more fluoride.
What if you've been flossing after you brush your teeth?
If you were taught to floss your teeth after you brush, don't worry. As long as you're flossing once per day, you're already one step ahead, Dr. Edmond Hewlett, consumer adviser for the ADA and professor at UCLA School of Dentistry, told me. "Dentists just want you to floss."
It also doesn't matter what time of day you floss. For instance, if you'd rather floss in the morning instead of the evening, you can. As long as you do a thorough job, it doesn't matter when you floss, according to Mouth Healthy, an ADA site.
The bottom line? Just make sure you're flossing once a day for your tooth and gum health. If you really want to kick up your dental hygiene a few notches, try flossing beforehand.
Additional flossing tips
Here are some more tips to ensure you're getting the best outcome from flossing.
- Never reuse a strand of dental floss. It could leave bacteria in your mouth.
- When flossing, move to the next clean segment of strand for each tooth.
- Don't aggressively slide the floss into your gums. Gently wiggle it until it reaches the gum line.
- Floss in a C-shape between each tooth.
- Use a water flosser, like this Waterpik, if string floss is too difficult for you to use.
- Don't use objects that aren't designed for flossing -- for instance, a knife, a sharp card or a safety pin.