1. Floss
2. Brush my teath
3. Scrap tongue (only at home morning/night)
4. Baking soda scrub
5. Listerine wash

Lot of times #4 and #5 are mutually exclusive. I include both of them depending on the quantity of sweets I go after. It is #3 that really helps with minimizing bad breath.

I don’t use flouride rinse but after reading some of these comments, I might try I use Listerine after I floss. Give me the feeling that I am washing away any food particles that I may have dislodged or brushed that didn’t leave my mouth.

One thing also you should consider is rinsing with Hydrogen peroxide. I know it’s slightly weird to be rinsing with something used for small cuts and bruises but my dentist suggested it over listerine. It’s a bacteria killer.

I’d cut out the plax and pre-rinse, it’s not that effective. I was using the listerine blue agent pre-rinse until it was recalled recently. better to stick to brushing a few minutes focusing on the upper gums and flossing in between the difficult spots.

You are right about the flossing, but considering that I didn’t floss at all before the floss picks – remember I’m Lazy, it’s a good interim step. And yes, I should give up the rest and do the full two minute brushing (though I swear I’m close to that). Knowing and doing are two different things for me. It’s a work in progress.

First, skip the mouthwash, plax, and flouride rinse altogether. They dry out your mouth and really aren’t worth doing, especially when they make it more likely that you are going to skip everything because it seems daunting. If you have extra mouthwash that you decide not to use, you can fill a cup enough to cover the head of your toothbrush and store your toothbrush in it. That will keep feces and other airborne particles from getting on your toothbrush (especially when you flush your toilet).

Second, use real dental floss and floss all of your teeth. Rather running the floss in between your teeth is a waste of time unless you have something caught there, which is about all that the floss picks do. Instead, you should be scraping your teeth with the floss to free up all that plaque that you are leaving on and praying that the mouthwash and plax remove. It’s time consuming and its a pain, but get in the routine of doing this right after you have brushed your teeth every morning or evening (you only need to do it once per day) and you’ll be all set.

Third, make sure you brush your teeth for at least a couple of minutes. Most people brush for 10 to 30 seconds (from what I have seen) which really isn’t enough. My dentist has me using two different kinds of toothpaste; first, I use arm & hammer baking soda toothpaste any time that I brush my teeth other than before bed. I brush with the arm & hammer every morning, and any time that I go home for lunch and brush my teeth (0-4 times per week, maybe). At night, I use an herbal toothpaste that she gave me that doesn’t have a foaming agent but which does a good job.

Summary: If you don’t want to read all that, here’s what I do.

1. Brush at least twice per day, morning and evening, and occasionally at lunchtime.
2. At night, use an herbal toothpaste. Every other time, use a baking soda toothpaste.
3. Every night after brushing, I floss all of my teeth, making sure to scrape the teeth and not just to run the floss between the teeth.

Following that routine, I got rid of all of the spyrochetes (however it is spelled) and have had clean check ups. Granted, they weren’t completely clean until I got my wife doing the same thing, but they got better up to that point and all problems went away once we were both on board.