Are you scared of the dentist? Do you want to avoid that dentist chair? Not to worry, all of us have had this phobia but the key is prevention from the start. It’s all about practicing small steps every day and one of these small steps is dental flossing.
The secret behind a beautiful smile is brushing your teeth twice a day along with gentle flossing at least once a day. If one skips either of these things, it can lead to serious dental problems.
Dental problems are a serious concern and can cost a fortune. The excessive consumption of junk food or poor dental hygiene leads to serious tooth problems such as an oral cavity, tooth decay, and bacterial infections. To be fair, not everyone can afford to go to the dentist.
If you don’t want to ‘HAVE TO’ go to the dentist, some permanent changes in your dental care routine may make it possible. Regular flossing, once a day, helps to keep the teeth clean and healthy.
There is always a but! Even flossing can be damaging if done wrong. One should be careful while flossing his or her teeth as vigorous flossing can damage the gums, causing bleeding and infections. If you’re wondering what’s the healthy way to floss, keep on reading to find out!
How to Properly Floss Your Teeth
For your oral hygiene to be top-notch it is essential that you floss every day as it goes beyond the toothbrush to clean between your teeth. If teeth aren’t properly cleaned, you’ll have to deal with bacteria and plaque.
However, you must be careful because, if done incorrectly, flossing can injure your teeth and gums. There is a range of floss tools at your disposal to make your life easier.
By following the steps below you can floss efficiently and safely.
- Break off around 20 inches of dental floss and wrap the majority around each of your middle fingers. There should be roughly 1 inch left to floss with.
- Keeping the floss tight, insert the floss between two teeth and gently slide up and down. Be careful around your gums.
- Near your gums, bend the floss to follow the shape of your tooth to access the gap between your gum and tooth.
- Repeat this dental flossing for each of your teeth using a fresh section of floss each time.
How to Properly Floss with Braces
Keeping your teeth clean and healthy when you have braces is vital. However, flossing with braces can be challenging. People who have braces need not worry. These techniques will make your flossing routine much easier!
- Again, break off around 20 inches of dental floss and wrap the majority around each of your middle fingers. There should be roughly 1 inch left to floss with.
- There are different types of dental floss you can use and we recommend waxed dental floss in the case of braces to ensure safety.
- Begin by threading the floss between the brace wire and tooth. Next, slide the floss between the two teeth, moving the floss up and down along either side of the teeth.
- For your top teeth, try to make a flipped U shape with the floss, by going up the side of one tooth until you reach the gum. Then, slide the floss down the side of the other tooth.
- Remove the floss from behind the wire and un-thread it. Do not pull the floss out of your tooth, as you could damage the wire.
- Repeat these exact steps for each tooth.
What Can I Use for Flossing?
There are numerous types of dental floss and floss tools that you can turn to. The aim is to find out which sort of flossing tool works for your teeth. Here are a few good options to choose from:
- Dental Tape
- Standard Dental Floss (Unwaxed)
- Waxed Dental Floss
- Stick Floss
- Water Flossers
Your decision of which floss tools you use should depend on your personal dental health. However, often a combination of these used together can be effective.
4 Tips for Teeth Flossing
Here are some additional flossing tips to help with forming a habit and safe execution:
1. Floss Regularly
Flossing once a day is an essential and healthy practice to keep teeth clean from bacteria or other tooth decaying debris. It is an easy task and requires just a few minutes.
2. Skip the Toothpick
The use of toothpicks can cause serious harm to the gums that often leads to infections. One should avoid the use of toothpicks and rather make use of floss to clean the teeth and remove food debris.
3. Be Gentle
Always be gentle while flossing your teeth. Rigorous and too much flossing can be harmful to teeth and gums and can cause bleeding. To avoid such incidents, curve the floss against your tooth as soon as it reaches the gum line.
4. Use the Right Floss
This is rather tricky as it requires more time and careful use of floss. Make sure to use waxed floss while wearing braces as the unwaxed floss can get stuck between the brackets and tear apart. Wrap both ends of the floss around your fingers and start flossing gently up and down around both sides of your teeth. Go up the tooth to the gum line and then down gently. Do not use the floss aggressively.
Take Away
Following the advice we have presented in this article can help to prevent the need for expensive, painful dental treatments. Moreover, the article provides an overview of dental hygiene practices, especially highlighting the flossing technique and types of flossing. Flossing is a great way to get rid of food debris and protect teeth from bacteria and cavities. So, don’t forget to floss at least once every day, or visit us at River Oak Dental, if you are near Palm Bay, and we will take care of it for you.
