Should you floss before or after you brush? I’ve always flossed afterwards, but it strikes me that, not to put to fine a point on it, the gunk I’m pulling up from between my teeth when flossing will then stay in my mouth if it survives the dreaded rinsing phase.
What is proper procedure?
Sua
I tried looking it up, and so far everything discusses the proper methods for brushing and flossing. None of the sites I found specifically said which one should be done first, but since they list brushing techniques first I’m assuming that you should floss afterward.
Here are a couple of the links I found:
Brushing & Flossing Instructions / PE
Important tooth brushing and flossing tips
Hope this helps!
Does your floss come with a manual Sue?
At the store yesterday I saw a ‘power flossing machine’ like a power toothbrush, ya know?
I’ve always thought “brush first, then floss”, with the following logic:
Your toothbrush lacks the ability to do a good job of removing stuff between your teeth. Therefore it’s possible that some of the stuff you remove with your brush will be redeposited in the gaps. If you brush first, a quick rinsing after flossing will get rid of any of the nasty stuff you just removed.
In practice, if you rinse your mouth well afterwards, it probably doesn’t make much of a difference.
Here’s MY just-before-bedtime routine, FWIW:
Rinse with plaque-removing mouth wash (like Plax)
Brush
Floss (w/ Bultler extra-fine)
Rinse with a floride mouthwash (like Floriguard)
Seems to cover all the bases.
Brush then floss, according to my dental hygienist.
But I usually do it the other way 'round.
Better than not at all! 
If you floss after brushing, the surface of the tooth adjacent to where the food was lodged will not be cleansed and protected by fluoride. That’s why I always floss before I brush. That way, the toothpaste & fluoride can clean & protect the space where the food was.
You guys are missing an important element in dental hygiene, the use of a gum stimulator. I brush, then floss, then use one of those picks, I think they’re called gum stimulators, not only to stimulate my gums (which is important) but I also work it in between my teeth. You’d be surprised how much food is still there - in between my teeth - even after flossing. I think that will eliminate any problems with food being redeposited after flossing.
Like an idiot, every time I buy a new packet of floss, I always lose the manual. Next time, I’ll be sure to hang onto it. 
FTR, it’s Sua, not Sue. I’ve learned this is an important distinction, as several people at my first Dopefest were stunned to learn I was male.
Sua
The real purpose of flossing has prettymuch nothing to do with “cleaning” your teeth, although it has the secondary effect of doing that, which is nice. (I’d recommend doing it first, for reasons given already).
The true purpose of flossing, as explained to me by my dental hygenist as she was scraping the shit out of the roots of my teeth to try and restore my gums to health and keep my teeth from falling out, is to break up “nets” of bacteria.
Apparently, if you don’t floss, bacteria between teeth hook together and form an increasingly brutal and inpenetrable net of bacterial bodies which begine to destroy your gum tissue. The longer they are allowed to build themselves up, the more damage they do. When you floss, you tear up the nets keep them from doing as much or any damage at all.
So before or after brushing is kinda beside the point. You just want to make sure you hit the GUMS really good. A gum stimulator, and mentioned earlier, is also a great thing to use. When you are flossing, just picture all those little bacteria bodies hooking together over the surface of your gums, destroying them, and floss accordingly.
Stoid
My dentist says:
She also says Plax is crap - it is no more effective than plain water. She send all their samples back - she won’t give them out to patients because, well, it’s crap.
What is “floshing”? 
“Like an idiot, every time I buy a new packet of floss, I always lose the manual. Next time, I’ll be
sure to hang onto it”
Yeah, me too Sua, thats why I asked you for your manual.
Just as well, if they say in it brush first, in two years they are going to say floss first.
I used to bleed when brushing, so the dentist said to floss & that keeps me from bleeding. whatever.
What Sean Connery says when everyone else says “flossing.”
Damn. Preview is my friend.
to be sure …
If your gums bleed it’s because there is plaque built up in them. Healthy gums do not bleed. To prevent plaque build up you have to floss, and do it correctly.
Consumers Reports once reported that the only rinse approved by the ADA and shown to be effective is Listerine, since it contains alcohol. I don’t use any rinse. I brush, floss, and then use the gum stimulator after every meal, and my dentist once told me (after I inquired as to any mechanical device) just to keep on doing what I was doing.
everytime I visit the dentist they show a new way to brush. Right now, I brush every way they have showed me before. It takes a little bit of time. Didn’t they say you should brush at least for 5 minutes?
When I was younger, they said you should brush for at least 3 minutes. Now I think it has been reduced to 2 minutes. Brush in a vertical manner and be sure to brush the gums too.
I floss first then brush, then swish around Listerine. To be honest, it never even occurred to me that some people might floss afterwards. I floss first because I feel my teeth are cleaned better if I get any gunk out of the way prior to brushing.
I’m not sure I get the point if you floss * after you’ve brushed. * You’re just brushing over the very spots with food and gunk stuck in between your teeth.
Floss first, brush, I use Listerine and Act, a flouride mouth rinse.