Flossing before brushing or the other way around?

United States
February 17, 2007 2:17am CST
Which one works better? And does the cleaning better? Flossing before brushing or brushing ang then flossing?
3 responses
@samson1967 (7414)
• India
17 Feb 07
Dont floss before or after brushing, as regular flossing will damage your gums. Do flossing once in a week, and goggle the mouth with water.
• United States
17 Feb 07
Well according to a friend of mine who's a dentist that is a bad idea, you're probably flossing the wrong way, cause it would really not damage your gums unless you're using the floss to cut through your gums..
@Galena (9110)
25 Mar 07
ideally you should be flossing at least once a day, Samson. if your gums bleed when you floss, it means that your gums are inflamed, so need more flossing, not less.
@Galena (9110)
25 Mar 07
I don't think it makes too much of a difference, but the way I prefer is to brush, then floss, then if there's any bits in my mouth after flossing, rinse. my reasons are, when flossing after brushing, some of the flouride in the paste gets between your teeth, where it helps strengthen the teeth. brushing afterwards may push the bits back between the teeth. if there aren't any bits I don't rinse, I let some of the toothpaste stay in my mouth, to keep fresh and work on my teeth.
@mongtot (90)
• Philippines
19 Mar 07
This is so silly. Does it really matter which one you do first? I don't know if I heard this from my dentist, but I floss after brushing. And then gargle. I do this because I think after brushing, some of the germs (or maybe food? I don't know which term to use) move in between of the teeth that is why I floss after brushing.