Celebrating Dental Health Week: Flossing

Dental Health Week 7-13 August 2017 Anywhere Anytime – Oral Health for Busy Lives #DentalHealthWeek

What’s So Important about Flossing?

Flossing is an essential part of an oral health routine that is all too commonly overlooked. During the 7-13 August is Dental Health Week, and at Willsmere Dental, we’re sharing tips and advice so that you can have incredible oral health – anywhere, anytime. 

A 100% Clean Feeling

Brushing your teeth is a highly effective way to keep half the surface areas of your teeth clean. Those bristles, however, can’t reach between the teeth, meaning you’re missing 50% of the full picture. That’s where flossing comes into the oral care routine. Floss removes the debris or plaque in between your teeth, which in turn will prevent issues such as tooth decay, gym disease and bad breath. With just a couple of minutes’ effort each day, you reap numerous benefits.

Working It Into Your Day

If, like most people, you find yourself feeling exhausted at the end of your day, it might not be the best time to floss. You’ll end up with better results if you wait until a time of day when you have the energy to do it well. Many choose to floss right away in the morning or after their lunch break. Others want to go to bed feeling like their teeth are thoroughly cleaned, having flossed right after their nightly brushing. Children should try to work flossing into their day at an early age. They’ll probably need your assistance at first, but by age 8 when teeth are in contact, they’re likely capable of taking over.

A How-to Guide

There are some easy tips you can keep in mind to help you floss:

• About 45 centimetres of floss should be wound around your middle fingers, tightly gripped between index fingers and thumb.
• Floss should be gently guided between teeth with a side-to-side motion, without cutting gums and cleaning all sides equally.
• The part of the tooth that meets the gum is called the neck. It can seem difficult to clean, but floss can be guided carefully under the gum.

Don’t like winding the floss around your fingers? Consider a floss threader or pick. The threader consists of a nylon loop floss is threaded through, while a pick has floss held tautly between prongs of a handle. Some people may have certain needs that make other types of tools appropriate, such as bottle brush-shaped interdental cleaners, interdental tips or irrigators. We’d be happy to advise you on what will work best for your particular situation.