For my entire bread making career, I've dusted the kneading board with flour. Primarily to keep the dough from sticking to the board, and sometimes to work a bit more flour into a dough I deemed to be too loose (happily, that happens much less often as I've gained experience).
I was wondering, though, is there any other benefit to this 'habit', for lack of a better term? Perhaps something subtle is happening to the surface that I've always just taken for granted? Is there a benefit to dusting more heavily? Less heavily?
in my limited experience, the only real concern is when preparing doughs with very high hydration. If you’re making a ciabatta, for example, over-flouring the board can make the dough too dry and you’ll lose some of that precious stickiness.
For the most part, however, flouring the work surface is a pretty universal habit. Make yourself comfortable!