Flossing Your Teeth—good Dental Hygiene

Good dental hygiene includes dental flossing. I am sure you have heard the complaints. You may even have voiced a couple of these complaints. You know, flossing takes too long, the string always breaks, I can’t get the floss between my teeth, it hurts my gums, and it doesn’t really help your teeth.

Those are just a few of the statements I have heard about dental flossing. I can assure you none of these statements are true. In fact, as we examine these statements, you will be able to better understand how these negative statements can promote poor dental care. That is what needs to change.

Let’s take a look at the first statement, “flossing takes too long.” I would ask how long does it take to drive to the dentist, sit in the waiting room, sit in the dentist chair and drive back home after the work is completed? The loss of a few seconds each day will more than pay off in long term benefits. I have timed myself and I know that I am rather slow, but I can still completely floss my teeth in one minute and five seconds.

What about the floss breaking. Does it happen? Of course. But you can minimize the breaks by using the newer Gore-Tex type floss. Glide is one of the brands. The fibers are stronger. They resist cutting and breaking which makes your flossing experience much more pleasant.

One of the major complaints of many people is that the floss is difficult to slide between close teeth. The Gore-Tex type floss is not only strong, but very slick. It slides between your teeth much smoother with little hanging or tearing of the floss.

Another complaint heard occasionally is, “the floss hurts my gums.” This is usually heard from someone who has not flossed for quite a while and their gums are tender. Proper flossing will clean your teeth and strengthen your gums. It really does help your teeth and gums.

If you haven’t flossed for a while use these six simple steps.

1) Use Gore-Tex type floss.

2) Tear off between 16 to 20 inches of floss.

3) Slide it gently between your teeth, allowing it to conform to the shape of your tooth.

4) Slide the floss up and down your tooth.

5) Follow this procedure between each set of teeth.

6) Don’t forget to floss both sides of your back teeth.

Sometimes there may be food that is difficult to remove from between your teeth. This usually happens between teeth that are too far apart. You can tie a knot in your floss and gently drag it between your teeth. The knot will pick up the material and pull it out from between your teeth. The point is to be very gentle. You do not want to damage your gums doing this.

Flossing daily combined with brushing twice a day will help insure your dental health and well being.

If you have questions on brushing, look for my article on using the correct brushing technique.