How to Use a Water Flosser: Step-by-Step

A water flosser sends a pulsing stream of water between your teeth and along the gumline. It is one way to clean between your teeth, and it does not replace brushing. The American Dental Association recommends brushing twice a day and cleaning between your teeth once a day. It describes water flossers as an option for people who have trouble flossing by hand or who have dental work such as braces or fixed bridges.

The routine below combines the published instructions from Waterpik and Oral-B with ADA and NHS guidance. Your own model’s manual comes first. Tips, pressure controls and reservoirs differ, and a step written for one device may not suit another.

Before you start

Find the manual for your exact model rather than a general search result. It tells you which tip to use, how the pressure control works and what may go in the reservoir. If you are unsure which model you own, our cleaning checklist explains where to find the model code.

Use your own tip. If several people share one handle, keep each person’s tip identifiable. Stand at a sink, and expect some splashing the first few times while you learn where the water goes.

How to use a water flosser, step by step

1. Fill the reservoir with lukewarm water. Waterpik’s instructions call for warm water and Oral-B’s for lukewarm water. Check your manual for any temperature limit.
2. Attach the tip. Click it into the handle until it seats as the manual describes.
3. Choose the lowest pressure setting. Oral-B advises starting at the lowest setting and working up, aiming for pressure that is “high but comfortable.” More force is not the goal.
4. Lean over the sink and put the tip in your mouth before switching on. Close your lips enough to stop splashing, but let the water run out of your mouth into the sink. Waterpik’s steps describe the same thing: turn the unit on, aim along the gumline and let the water flow from your mouth into the sink.
5. Start with the back teeth. Oral-B suggests beginning at the molars and holding the tip slightly away from your teeth and gums rather than pressing it against them.
6. Trace the gumline one tooth at a time. Aim the stream where the gum meets the tooth and between each pair of teeth, pausing for about two seconds per tooth, as Oral-B describes. Clean the outer surfaces, then the inner surfaces, on the top and bottom teeth.
7. Keep going for about two minutes. Oral-B puts a full-mouth routine at roughly two minutes. If the reservoir empties first, refill it and carry on where you stopped.
8. Stop the water before you take the tip out. Some Waterpik models have a pause control on the handle for this; otherwise switch off. Then empty any leftover water and let the parts dry as your manual directs.

If a small cordless tank keeps running out partway through, the tank calculator estimates how long a reservoir lasts at different flow settings.

Fixes for common problems

Before or after brushing?

The ADA’s answer for flossing is that the order does not matter, as long as you clean thoroughly and make it a daily habit. Choose a time you will stick to. If you are too tired at night, the ADA suggests the morning or after lunch instead.

If you have no preference, water flossing before you brush has a practical advantage. NHS advice is to spit out excess toothpaste after brushing without rinsing, because rinsing washes away the concentrated fluoride left on your teeth. A water flosser used straight after brushing rinses your mouth in much the same way.

Two small trials using string floss also found that cleaning between the teeth first, then brushing, removed more plaque in at least some areas of the mouth than the reverse order. One of them also found more fluoride retained between the teeth. Both studied young adults using string floss rather than water flossers, so treat them as a tiebreaker. If your dentist or hygienist has given you a specific order, follow it.

Mouthwash and other additives

Put mouthwash in the reservoir only if the manual for your exact model allows it, and only in the way it describes. Instructions differ between manufacturers and models, and an additive that suits one device’s seals and pump may not suit another’s.

If the manual does not mention mouthwash, use plain water. Use any mouthwash your dental professional recommends separately. The NHS suggests choosing a different time from toothbrushing, such as after lunch, so the mouthwash does not wash away the fluoride from your toothpaste.

Do not add salt, baking soda, peroxide, essential oils or bleach to the reservoir unless the manufacturer explicitly permits it. Our cleaning checklist covers what to do with the reservoir afterwards.

How often, and what to expect

The ADA recommends cleaning between your teeth once a day. If a water flosser is how you do that, once a day is the baseline. Your dental professional may suggest a different routine, for example around braces, implants or recent treatment.

Keep your expectations realistic. A 2019 Cochrane review of home interdental cleaning found the evidence for oral irrigators limited and inconsistent. Very low certainty evidence suggested they might reduce gum inflammation at one month, but not at three or six months. The review found no clear extra reduction in plaque or bleeding compared with brushing alone, and most of its evidence for the other cleaning tools was also low certainty. Whichever tool you choose, using it properly and consistently matters, and so do your dental checkups.

If you want evidence for a particular model, look for the ADA Seal of Acceptance. The ADA says water flossers that have earned the Seal have been tested to be safe and effective at removing plaque.

Braces, bridges and implants

The ADA mentions braces and fixed bridges among the dental work that makes flossing difficult and for which a water flosser might help. Use the tip your manual recommends for orthodontic work or implants, and ask your orthodontist or dentist how to clean around their work. Our guide to water flossers for braces covers brackets and wires, and water flosser vs string floss compares the two routines.

An Oral Cove example, clearly labeled

The Cordless Water Flosser at Oral Cove is a listing from our owner’s store. Its product page lists three pressure settings, a 200 ml reservoir, USB-C charging and three jet tips. It also says one reservoir gives 45 seconds or more of flow, so a two-minute routine may need a refill or two.

If you use one, the routine above applies: begin on the lowest setting, and get the current instructions for the tips and reservoir before putting anything other than water in it. The specifications come from the listing; we have not independently tested the device. FlosserGuide and Oral Cove share an owner, and purchases benefit that owner. If you are still choosing, our buying guide compares cordless and countertop formats.

Sources and limits

• ADA MouthHealthy: water flossers.
• ADA MouthHealthy: flossing, including whether to floss before or after brushing.
• ADA MouthHealthy: brushing your teeth.
• NHS: how to keep your teeth clean, on rinsing and mouthwash timing.
• Waterpik: how to use a water flosser.
• Oral-B: how to use water flossers.
• Worthington HV and colleagues, home use of interdental cleaning devices, in addition to toothbrushing, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019.
• Mazhari F and colleagues, toothbrushing and flossing sequence trial, Journal of Periodontology, 2018.
• Ma YF and colleagues, brushing and flossing sequence trial, BMC Oral Health, 2026.
• Oral Cove product listing, checked September 25, 2026.

This guide organizes published instructions and guidance into one routine. It is not a product test, and it does not replace your model’s manual or advice from your dental professional.