# Dental hygiene: brush or floss first?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-hygiene-brush-or-floss-first/230040>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 19, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-hygiene-brush-or-floss-first/230040 "2004-02-19T17:39:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-hygiene-brush-or-floss-first/230040/1 "2004-02-19T17:39:56Z")

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I apologize if this has been asked before - I attempted to search, but it was running slow, so I decided to go ahead and post.

I’ve been a bad flosser, really. I brush several times daily, but flossing is one of those things that I just tended not to do, whether because of forgetfulness, laziness or whatever.

Well, I broke down and got one of [these](http://www.reachaccess.com/reachaccess/how.html), and I really like it. It makes the process so much simpler, and it’s right there. So now I floss daily, either morning or in the evening before bed, either before or after I brush.

But the question is, should I be brushing, then flossing or the other way around? If I brush, then floss, I’d get what brushing missed, but what if I relocate some bacteria from between my teeth to other surfaces? But if I floss first…well, I don’t really see a negative there, unless brushing somehow forces bacteria back in between those spaces between my teeth. I checked out the ADA website, and I don’t see any hint that one order is preferred, but I’d like to know.

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**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-hygiene-brush-or-floss-first/230040/2 "2004-02-19T17:52:49Z")

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Why, it’s as simple as 1-2-3! 🙂

1. Brush once over lightly, briefly, with a bit of water.

2. Floss thouroughly.

3. Brush thoroughly, with toothpaste.

(Rinse before and after each step.)