The best order for your oral care routine is: floss first, brush second, then use mouthwash last. That said, the most important thing is that you do all the steps consistently. The American Dental Association doesn’t prescribe a rigid sequence, and a 2021 meta-analysis found no statistical difference in plaque removal between flossing before versus after brushing. Still, there are good reasons to follow a specific order, mostly related to how fluoride works on your teeth.
Why Flossing First Makes Sense
Flossing loosens food particles and plaque from between your teeth, areas your toothbrush can’t reach well. When you floss before brushing, the fluoride in your toothpaste can then make better contact with those newly cleaned surfaces between teeth. If you floss after brushing, those gaps may still have debris sitting in them during the time fluoride is doing its work.
Whether you use string floss, floss picks, or a water flosser doesn’t change the principle. If you use all three tools, a reasonable approach is to start with a water flosser to blast out larger food particles, follow with string floss for tighter contact between teeth, and finish with brushing. But again, doing all three matters far more than the sequence.
Brushing: Two Minutes With Fluoride Toothpaste
Brush for a full two minutes with fluoride toothpaste. Most people fall short of this, so a timer or an electric toothbrush with a built-in one helps. Use gentle pressure and angle your bristles toward the gumline at about 45 degrees, making short back-and-forth strokes.
Here’s the part most people get wrong: what you do after brushing. The instinct is to rinse your mouth with water, but that washes away the concentrated fluoride you just applied. Instead, spit out the excess toothpaste and leave it at that. Fluoride strengthens enamel, and leaving it on your teeth for at least 15 minutes after brushing makes enamel more resistant to the acids that cause cavities. If you’ve been rinsing with water your whole life, you haven’t done any damage, but skipping that rinse gives you extra protection, especially if you’re cavity-prone.
Where Mouthwash Fits In
Mouthwash should come at a separate time from brushing, not immediately after. Using a non-fluoride mouthwash right after brushing significantly reduces the fluoride concentration left on your teeth, cutting into the cavity protection your toothpaste just provided. Even fluoride mouthwashes contain lower concentrations of fluoride than toothpaste, so rinsing right after brushing dilutes what’s already there.
The practical fix: use mouthwash at a different point in the day. If you brush morning and night, use mouthwash after lunch or at another time when you haven’t just brushed. Alternatively, if you want mouthwash as part of your routine, use it before you brush. A pre-brush rinse can loosen debris and reduce bacteria before you start cleaning mechanically.
Tongue Scraping Comes After Brushing
If you use a tongue scraper, slot it in after brushing and flossing. Your tongue harbors a significant amount of bacteria, and scraping it removes a layer that brushing alone won’t fully address. Place the scraper at the back of your tongue and pull forward with gentle pressure, rinsing the scraper between passes. Two or three strokes typically does it. Harvard Health includes tongue scraping as part of a complete dental routine, positioned after brushing and flossing.
The Full Sequence
- Floss (string floss, floss picks, or water flosser) to clear debris between teeth
- Brush for two minutes with fluoride toothpaste
- Scrape your tongue if you use a tongue scraper
- Spit out excess toothpaste but don’t rinse with water
- Use mouthwash at a separate time, not right after brushing
Morning vs. Nighttime Priorities
Your morning and evening routines serve different purposes, and you can adjust your approach for each. In the morning, bacteria have been multiplying for hours while you slept. Many dentists recommend brushing first thing after waking, even before breakfast, to clear that overnight buildup. If you eat breakfast and then want to brush again, that’s fine, but if your breakfast included something acidic like orange juice, coffee, or fruit, wait at least an hour. Acid softens enamel temporarily, and brushing on softened enamel can wear it away. During that waiting period, your saliva naturally neutralizes the acid and allows the enamel to re-harden.
Nighttime is when your routine matters most. Saliva production drops dramatically while you sleep, and saliva is your mouth’s primary defense against bacteria and acid. Without it, plaque has hours of uninterrupted time to do damage. A thorough nighttime routine, including flossing, ensures you go to bed with as little plaque and food debris as possible. If you’re only going to floss once a day, make it before bed.
Adjustments for Braces
Orthodontic hardware creates extra nooks where food and plaque collect, so the routine gets a couple of additions. An interproximal brush (a small, cone-shaped brush designed for tight spaces) becomes essential for cleaning around brackets and under wires. The American Association of Orthodontists recommends brushing after every meal when you have braces, not just twice a day. Flossing is harder with wires in the way, but it’s more important than ever. A floss threader or orthodontic flosser helps you get the floss under the wire and between teeth. After sugary snacks or drinks, at minimum rinse your mouth with water if you can’t brush right away.
A workable sequence with braces: use your interproximal brush first to dislodge debris from around brackets, then floss with a threader, and finish by brushing with fluoride toothpaste. Carrying a small kit with these tools makes it easier to stay consistent throughout the day.