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Comment by rrr_oh_man | Hacker News Reader

I got high fluoride toothpaste when I was a kid. Turns out, I just didn't know how to brush my teeth properly.

  1. Floss first (!!!)
  2. Use *any* electric brush
  3. Spit, but don't wash out with water
  4. Use fluoride mouthwash

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Is there any research/literature on this? A couple years ago I read that the "correct" order was mouthwash -> floss -> brush.

Really good question.

I personally treat it like gym: it's most important that you do it, not so much in what order or even how well.

I think the most important thing is to make sure your process leaves a fluoridated product in your mouth at the end. You want the fluoride to stay on your teeth for 30 minutes.

I thought it was floss -> mouthwash -> brush, but either way brush was always last because the toothpaste fluoride is what you wanted left on your teeth at the end of the process with the mouthwash serving as a base layer.

I’m 40, have virtually never flossed, and I’ve never had any cavities or other tooth problems. I honestly wonder about the whole flossing and cleaning ideas.

That sounds like decent sized gaps between the teeth, wide jaw, not eating a ton of (sweet) stuff that gets stuck, etc. Or just lucky genes in general. YMMV.

E.g. there are many examples of people chain-smoking until the ripe age of 90+ and never having lung problems, but that does not invalidate the other 95% of the bell curve.

You don't need to floss but parodontitis is unavoidable if you don't use dental bristles.

You probably have the mouth bacteria that doesn't cause cavities and don't consume litres of acidic drinks every day?

It really depends on your teeth layout.

If you are lucky enough to have very straight and packed teeth, there is very little room between your teeth for any food to be lodged in. I used to never floss then one day I tried it and it took me 3 weeks of flossing before the wire came out clean and odorless.

I have heard of Step 3 too, but shouldn't we bit at least a little bit concerned about the fluoride calcifying our pineal gland? I know some people might take my last sentence and think it's woo-ey but if you search it up, basically it seems like there's nothing conclusive one way or another.

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