# For three days: Choose between brush your teeth or floss. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 13, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739 "2017-10-13T17:07:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/1 "2017-10-13T17:07:09Z")
For a three day period you have to choose between brush your teeth or floss. You can’t do both. Which do you choose? Instinctively, I want to choose brushing. But thinking about it, I feel like flossing would be better. What say you? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/2 "2017-10-13T17:08:30Z")
Having seen recent reports about the ineffectiveness of flossing, I’ll stick with the brush. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/3 "2017-10-13T17:15:07Z")
I don’t floss anyway, so i pick brushing. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/4 "2017-10-13T17:16:38Z")
[http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2014-archive/october/survey-finds-shortcomings-in-oral-health-habits](http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2014-archive/october/survey-finds-shortcomings-in-oral-health-habits) > [@](#): > > Nearly seven out of 10 Americans brush their teeth at least twice a day. > Only four of 10 Americans floss at least once a day, and 20 percent never floss I think this is going to be a one-sided poll. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/5 "2017-10-13T17:23:38Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > [http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2014-archive/october/survey-finds-shortcomings-in-oral-health-habits](http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2014-archive/october/survey-finds-shortcomings-in-oral-health-habits) > > I think this is going to be a one-sided poll. I’m sure it will be. I was just thinking about this, this morning when I was brushing my teeth. After I brush and spit, I don’t see a whole lot of debris. But after I floss and rinse, I see a lot of debris (relatively speaking). ETA: I answered my own poll wrong. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/6 "2017-10-13T17:31:33Z")
My teeth are very tight and flossing is an unpleasant chore. As I only manage to do it a couple times a week anyway, I’ll take the brushing I do with my Sonicare on the gum setting - seems to be keeping things healthy according to my dentist. I brush before bed for 4.5 minutes (2 cycles on the brush). ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/7 "2017-10-13T18:51:57Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > But after I floss and rinse, I see a lot of debris (relatively speaking). Really? When I floss (which I know I am doing correctly), I get nothing or close to nothing. This is why I almost never do it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/8 "2017-10-13T19:27:32Z")
Brushing - but that being said, most of my cavities have occurred between the teeth, where brushing can’t reach… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/9 "2017-10-13T19:43:54Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > My teeth are very tight and flossing is an unpleasant chore. As I only manage to do it a couple times a week anyway, I’ll take the brushing I do with my Sonicare on the gum setting - seems to be keeping things healthy according to my dentist. I brush before bed for 4.5 minutes (2 cycles on the brush). I could never floss much without pain and bleeding. One trick I found is to brush the gum line using an anti-plaque mouthwash. Not as good as flossing, but the dentist noted that plaque build-up below the gum line was reduced. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/10 "2017-10-13T21:48:36Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > For a three day period you have to choose between brush your teeth or floss. You can’t do both. Which do you choose? You make it sound like I’m being kept from two things I would want to do. I’ll just stick with not flossing like I always do. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/11 "2017-10-13T23:46:09Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I don’t floss anyway, so i pick brushing. Shame on you…and me, too. I keep “intending” to floss, but it never seems to happen. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/12 "2017-10-13T23:50:15Z")
I never floss, but I pick my teeth a lot (with a toothpick); I presume I could keep doing that? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/13 "2017-10-14T02:52:11Z")
I only floss every 3 or 4 days (sorry Dr Tom) so its an easy call for me. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/14 "2017-10-14T10:22:33Z")
Flossing because of what I actually observe and not what surveys say or what other people do. If I don’t floss for a day a lot of gunk builds up in between the teeth. So I see that as a bigger chore and faster escalation of damage. Also, I know that a lot of people don’t floss, and I see many people on a daily basis with decent looking teeth on the surface but hideous stuff in between. I’m assuming not brushing doesn’t mean abstaining from normal behavior like drinking water, which at least helps with some cleaning. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/15 "2017-10-14T12:38:10Z")
I pick flossing if I can count water flossing with my Water-Pik with a splash of mouthwash in the water. Cause some nights I do that instead of brushing before bed and my teeth and mouth feel perfectly clean. I wouldn’t do that in the morning, though. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/16 "2017-10-14T12:56:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Having seen recent reports about the ineffectiveness of flossing, I’ll stick with the brush. I cling to this revelation to justify my dislike of flossing. Not that my decet brushing seems to have made much of an impact on my teeth anyway, they seem determined to dissolve no matter how diligent I am. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/17 "2017-10-14T14:03:37Z")
I’m one of the very few who picked flossing. I’m a bit of an obsessive flosser and have floss-picks with me at all times. I could deal with fuzzy teeth for 3 days from not brushing but it’d be torture to not be able to pick out stuff from between my teeth. I brush twice a day but floss probably 6 or 7 times a day. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/18 "2017-10-14T15:50:13Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > . . . I brush twice a day but floss probably 6 or 7 times a day. My first thought was that this is excessive…but it occurs to me that there’s no downside. It isn’t the sort of thing you can “overdo.” No harm will accrue. So…yay! I know I need to floss…because the few times I do, it hurts. I know I need to do it to the point where it doesn’t hurt. So, maybe that’ll be my New Year’s Resolution…one of these years… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/19 "2017-10-14T15:53:59Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I think this is going to be a one-sided poll. This poll has no teeth in it. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739/20 "2017-10-14T20:12:25Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I know I need to floss…because the few times I do, it hurts. I know I need to do it to the point where it doesn’t hurt. So, maybe that’ll be my New Year’s Resolution…one of these years… ☹ I see the dentist in a couple of weeks and I am already rehearsing my negotiation speech. “Look, I know I should floss but I hate it so much that it becomes this dark cloud I face at the end of the night and I just want to fall into bed instead. Assuming you have a hypothetical client who would never floss, what could be a substitute? How about brushing (concentrating on the gums\*) and Listerining twice a day?” \*My teeth are strong so cavities aren’t too much of a threat. The crowns I have are from grinding and teeth splitting. I have a nightguard now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-three-days-choose-between-brush-your-teeth-or-floss/798739.md?page=2)