Should You Brush or Floss First? (Video)

Hi, this is Dr. Nammy. I am delighted to share with you today about what should you do first? A pressing question. Should you brush first or should you floss first? So that is a question I get from a lot of my patients, and does it matter? Is it really important? Is there just one way or is there two ways?

This has been a big debate of dentists for many, many, many, many years and will continue to do so. It’s a matter of style.

Reasons to Floss First

My favorite way of doing brushing and flossing is actually I like to floss first. The reason I like to floss first is that when I floss, I am able to take away all the bacteria that’s in between the teeth, and then when I brush, I can brush all of them away. So personally, I feel like I get a better clean when I do it that way. I follow it by tongue scraping, which is super important, and getting rid of all the bacteria on your tongue because your body does detox through your tongue. So my preference, floss first, brush your teeth, and then scrape your tongue.

What If You Don’t Like Flossing?

Now your question is like, “Hey, what if I don’t like flossing?” It’s okay. I have a solution for you. So my favorite product is called a water pick. Water picks are wonderful because you can use them in the shower, you can use them by your bathroom sink, wherever you feel comfortable. So you take a water pick, and I like to put it on highest pressure so that way I make sure that all the stuff is going out in between my teeth. Always use a water pick. It is a great way to get everything out.

Using a Waterpik

If you’re feeling like you’re a little nervous you might be getting beginning signs of gingivitis or anything like that too, what you can do is put a little bit of peroxide, hydrogen peroxide into like about a spoon for eight ounces of water, and use that in your water pick. You can get rid of all the bacteria. That hydrogen peroxide has oxygen in it. It is going to kill the bad bugs, the snake-like bacteria that cause bleeding. It will kill those. So that is wonderful. If you wanted to take it a step further, you could always do some oil pulling. That works really well as well. But definitely floss first, brush your teeth, scrape your tongue.