Metal Mouth Message Board

This is my first wk with aligners.

Stupid question....do I have to floss when I brush in the morning after waking up? I already brush/floos the night before and I haven't ate anything since.


Also, do I have to floss after I drink my diet coke? I am only brushing now. Doesnt make sense to floss since I am not eating anything....there isn't anything to be stuff in between teeth.

Thanks

anybody can help out there?

Flossing is to remove bits of food from between teeth, so i wouldnt bother. Others may have different ideas.

I floss after most meals, but not drinks. I figure that equals about 2-3 times per day which seems more than adequate! I think the important one is before bed, when the food would otherwise be left there for 8 or more hours...

I would floss after breakfast rather than waking. I only floss after food, not meals. I must also confess that of late I sometimes only brush after lunch if I am in a desperate hurry.

Am I the only one that thinks flossing is overrated? I brush my teeth often and keep them sparkling. I keep my aligners clean and keep my breath fresh. I don't get food stuck between my teeth so flossing just seems like a waste of time.

myhollywoodsmile wrote: I only floss after food, not meals.

Food, not drinks was what I meant to say....

24braceface wrote:I don't get food stuck between my teeth so flossing just seems like a waste of time.

Yes you do, you just don't know it because you arent flossing. I used to think the same.

Eating meat will almost gaurantee i get food between my teeth and flossing is the only way to get it out. I floss at night before bed and if i've had a meal with meat and my teeth feel icky.

PaulInc wrote:Flossing is to remove bits of food from between teeth, so i wouldnt bother. Others may have different ideas.

It's true that flossing removes the food and that's why I do it every time before putting the aligners back in. But flossing in general removes the bacteria that is sitting on the teeth. If you let it sit there too long it forms a layer of plaque. The plaque will eventually lead to receding gums. This could take 10+ years to notice. If you have regular cleaning and they say everything looks good, then you may not have to worry about flossing. But if you don't floss and don't get cleaning, then you might end up with receding gums. It's all about the long term.

That said, I don't think you need to floss in the morning. They say just once a day if you are not using Invisalign. And since you flossed the night before there shouldn't be any food there in the morning.

In the morning I usually just eat, then floss and brush before putting the aligners back in.

That's interesting, do you use any special type of floss for that? I like the super floss stuff that expands but it has no mint or wax on it.

I generally floss at night and then use mouth wash. My reasoning that the flossing will open up my gums a bit and let the mouth wash penetrate better. The mouth wash says to use twice a day, but the last time i did that my mouth was raw and felt swollen.