Comments on: When do you floss?

Question: When do you floss?

Cordelya — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:27:56 -0800

Where does flossing fit in to your routine?

I have trouble adding new things to my routine. I'm all about routine, and what routine I have is almost completely concrete - to the point where many of my sub-routines go in the same order every time. It's rather Adrian Monk, really.

I've managed to slip brushing my teeth into my routine by adding it ito my shower sub-routine. It goes after I wash my hair and before I wash my face. In that order, every single time.

I am having problems identifying an ideal place in my routine to add flossing. At least several times a week, preferably once per day. The best place would be within a sub-routine, so I don't abstain unless I drop the entire sub-routine.

But where? When?

My abbreviated weekday routine goes as such:
Get up, take a shower, and get dressed (one hour).
At work or commuting (10 hrs).
Evening is not structured - usually involves food in some form (lots of takeout due to fact that size of kitchen rivals postage stamps) and lots of computer time - spouse contributes to and encourages this behavior. Very difficult to tear self away from computer. Possibly some reading before bed, but not routine (5 hrs).
Sleeping (8 hrs).

Let's not forget that I'm a champion procrastinator...

Where in your routine do you floss? Anybody have flossing creatively placed in a non-standard sub-routine?

By: poppo

poppo — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:30:28 -0800

Right after you brush, when else?

By: puritycontrol

puritycontrol — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:30:40 -0800

I floss right after I brush every night.

By: electroboy

electroboy — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:35:19 -0800

I floss right before I brush. Every night.

By: vytae

vytae — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:38:03 -0800

My dental hygienist suggests making it a prerequisite for your morning toothbrushing. You wouldn't leave your house without brushing your teeth in the morning, right? Well from now on you're not allowed to brush your teeth in the morning without first flossing. So to be presentable to the world, you'd better make yourself floss. To my mind this requires at least as much mind-trickery and willpower as just flossing on whatever schedule you want, but she's the pro and she swears by this approach.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:39:21 -0800

You should floss before you brush, but it sounds as if evening flossing doesn't have a subroutine to slip it into. What routine do you go through right before you step in the morning shower? Is there some way you can make a detour to the sink, floss, and then step in the shower?

By: epersonae

epersonae — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:39:52 -0800

while I'm waiting for my shower water to heat up. (we have tankless, and the bathroom is at the opposite end of the house from the water heater.) then shower, and brush after the shower.

you might also try right before bed, as part of a changing into pajamas (etc) routine. I keep meaning to do that and never quite make it.

By: artifarce

artifarce — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:42:46 -0800

If it helps for your sub-routines to have logic, you could floss before you brush your teeth. Yes, I know that differs from the previous comments, but flossing first helps by loosening bacteria and freeing spaces that need to get accessed by your brush.

Alternately, keep floss at your computer desk and floss while you're reading your daily news feeds. Or while you're laying in bed in the morning trying to get up. As long as you're not messy, you can fit the routine anywhere you have 2 hands free. I find it helps to keep floss convenient in multiple places since I purportedly have bad gums.

(IANAD, but I get lots of lectures from my hygienist, and like passing on the ~~hate~~ good advice).

By: jamaro

jamaro — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:42:49 -0800

I floss after every meal but as I eat out a lot, I keep a stash of single-use disposable flossers in the center console of my car for one-handed flossing while driving.

Yes, I'm probably grossing out someone in the next vehicle. No, I don't care.

By: headspace

headspace — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:43:29 -0800

I floss when I watch tv, or when I'm reading online. It's my house, I can floss wherever I want. Then, I go and brush my teeth, and go to bed.

By: jquinby

jquinby — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:46:03 -0800

After any meal that has tough stringy stuff (I have a tiny gap in the back that always gets painfully jammed up).

Also as part of the morning brushing ritual. I almost never forget to do it now, though it took several painful cavities (and subsequent filling replacements) to reinforce this bit of hygiene. Do you want the particulars?

Shower -> Shave -> Brush/Floss -> Eat -> Leave

I should probably floss after eating instead, but the way my momentum in the morning goes, I'm hauling ass out the door after eating, so I'd probably never get it done.

By: Salvatorparadise

Salvatorparadise — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:48:24 -0800

i never flossed in 27 years and recently required 3 root canals with crowns, 3 more crowns and about 5 fillings

floss it up, baby! i do it in front of the mirror to make sure i'm getting up in the gums and getting all the gunk out...and right before i brush

By: Silvertree

Silvertree — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:52:22 -0800

I floss after every meal, no matter if I brush or not. Once I started, I can't STAND not flossing. It feels like I am walking around with huge chunks of food in my teeth.

By: sondrialiac

sondrialiac — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:54:03 -0800

I keep the floss by my computer and floss when watching a youtube video or some other non-interactive internet thing.

By: scody

scody — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:58:20 -0800

Per my dentist instructions, when I still had braces a few years ago: floss BEFORE brushing to get majority of bits out of the way, THEN brush. I will occasionally floss a second time if I've been eating anything that's inclined to still leave little bits behind.

By: Andy's Gross Wart

Andy's Gross Wart — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:59:14 -0800

I floss, brush my teeth and shave my face in a no-fog mirror during my morning shower.

The shaving occurs first while my hair is dry. Then I rinse my face and wet my hair for the shampoo. Once I have worked up a frothy lather of shampoo, I floss and brush my teeth.

By: olinerd

olinerd — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:00:04 -0800

I started flossing recently. Before bed, I wash my face, brush my teeth, and remove my contacts. Flossing got inserted after contacts. I do it at night because I have to wear a night guard for tooth grinding, and I don't want to have something covering and keeping warm and moist my extra-dirty teeth for the next eight hours.

My motivation? I recently had two cavities filled. My dentist, knowing I'm an engineer and I like this sort of thing, handed me the mirror to show me exactly what decayed tooth and drilled out cavities look like. It was disgusting. And he drilled out like half my goddamn tooth for a "small cavity." I am very motivated to floss.

Plus it's just so satisfying seeing all the crap you can floss out... yuck!

By: pdb

pdb — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:03:22 -0800

I floss before brushing every night. When I was single and lived alone, though, I used to keep floss in my coffee table, and floss while I watched TV. Maybe you could floss while you compute (how much time do you really need to be. Alternately, you could floss in the shower, before brushing.

By: crazycanuck

crazycanuck — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:04:43 -0800

You need a pre-bedtime routine. Right before you step into the bedroom for sleep, you do the following:
1. Floss
2. Brush teeth
3. Wash face

Commit to doing this every night for one month. I was able to create a new pre-bedtime routine in that timeframe.

By: unclejeffy

unclejeffy — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:05:03 -0800

When I floss, I floss in the shower. A lot of what keeps me from flossing is the disgusting, messy nature of it. I find that doing it in the shower is the least objectionable.

By: otolith

otolith — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:05:43 -0800

Do you brush your teeth at night, as well? I found it easiest to floss before I brush my teeth right before bed. This ensures that your mouth is extra clean through the night, when bacteria has plenty of time to go to work. I sometimes try and floss in the mornings too, but if I'm rushed, it gets skipped. Much easier to do it at night when you have plenty of time. After years of not flossing and finally REALLY needing to start, that's what worked best for me.

By: dixie flatline

dixie flatline — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:05:55 -0800

I'm not sure if the original post implies that you have no routine for brushing before going to bed. If you don't, you should add one. Then, obviously, you would just floss before brushing your teeth at that time.

Aside from the potential for being embarrassed by your breath, I'd have to think that brushing at night is more important for the health of your teeth and gums than brushing in the morning-- you are not eating or drinking for 8+ hours, your mouth tends to get dry, and whatever's in there is just festering.

By: chez shoes

chez shoes — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:09:13 -0800

After every meal, right before brushing. Yes, I'm one of those OCD types with a toothbrush in my purse :)

By: happyturtle

happyturtle — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:20:25 -0800

Nthing flossing at the computer. And try different types of floss until you find the one that works for you. I use Glide floss. My husband swears by the toothpick floss thingies. Neither of us can bear to use the 'normal' floss.

By: invitapriore

invitapriore — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:21:16 -0800

I do it at night, after I brush (though I realized recently that doing so right before makes more sense and reading these responses has cemented that for me).

I am much like you in how I structure my life, as well as in my tendency to procrastinate and my inability to implement new habits. Flossing has merely become a necessary part of my pre-bed ritual, which previously consisted of just brushing my teeth and taking out my contacts. My motivation was that my gums were bleeding every time I brushed my teeth before, and after one visit to the dentist they stopped. I'd like to keep them that way.

Also, a lot of people in my family have horrible and recurring dental issues as a result of their childhood neglect, and seeing the amount of money, time and pain that they now have to spend to fix those problems keeps me motivated.

By: noble_rot

noble_rot — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:21:49 -0800

For many reasons (especially if you ever have trouble falling asleep or getting enough sleep), you should not read in bed at night. If the only thing you do when you get in to bed at night is sleep, you will have a nighttime routine of getting into bed. I'd recommend sticking your brush/floss routine in your "get into bed" routine; I believe more decay occurs at night. And, as an added bonus, you won't ever get morning breath (remember to brush your tongue!).

If you read or watch TV or get it on or whatever in bed close to the time you sleep, you run the risk of first, not sleeping enough, and second, losing your pre-bed routine.

By: glibhamdreck

glibhamdreck — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:28:28 -0800

Do one tooth gap at each stop light on your commute.

By: roger ackroyd

roger ackroyd — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:43:27 -0800

There's one rule of thumb I live by: if you can do it in the shower, you should. This includes flossing, brushing, text messaging, and catching up on the New Yorker. Never loan me a paperback.

By: Sweetie Darling

Sweetie Darling — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:01:58 -0800

I would recommend getting an interdental brush in addition to whatever floss you like (I am partial to Glide, but I think it's a very personal thing, so shop around). I have some weird spaces near the gumline and the interdental is a lifesaver.

By: JimN2TAW

JimN2TAW — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:56:13 -0800

I floss right before I brush. Every night.
posted by electroboy at 1:35 PM on January 4

What he said.

By: 6550

6550 — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:03:27 -0800

I floss at night and only at night, and it's part of my routine.

Wash hands
Floss
Brush (remember to brush your tongue as well)
Wash face

Or I do the above in the shower if I'm having a second shower in the evening.

By: number9dream

number9dream — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:28:37 -0800

I do it immediately before brushing my teeth before bed.

It seems to me that if you're only going to floss once a day, it's better to do it at night rather than in the morning. Since you eat throughout the day anyway, if you floss in the morning, you're going to get food and stuff in your teeth within the next few hours. But if you floss before bed, you spend all night with no bits of food in your teeth.

By: Brian James

Brian James — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:49:09 -0800

I floss while watching TV. Is that gross? (I am careful to not handle the remote) I don't see the need to do it standing over the sink.

By: Joleta

Joleta — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 20:29:48 -0800

I keep a Reach flosser in my car and floss while I drive to work. (Well, at the stoplights, not while I'm actually driving.) I really, really hate wrapping floss around my fingers and rooting around in my mouth. The Reach flosser is great!

By: bkeene12

bkeene12 — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 20:51:19 -0800

This guy flosses right after using Stim-U-Dents and just before brushing, then I hit the Listerine about three times a week; all of this occurs after the shower before I go to bed. No cavities in as long as I can remember. Gums look good when they stick that metal probe in to see how deep it goes. If you got tight teeth Crest has a brand that claims not to shred.

By: HotPatatta

HotPatatta — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:34:14 -0800

I floss at night so there won't be little food particles sitting in my cracks 'n' crevices all night long, slowly eating away at my enamel. The I swish with Listerine to wash away anything dislodged during flossing.

By: jjg

jjg — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 00:18:34 -0800

Most people, I suspect, pin flossing to brushing as part of their general dental hygiene routine. That given: Previously.

By: arcticseal

arcticseal — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 08:50:06 -0800

Floss at night before I brush.