How Can Flossing Help Your Overall Dental Health?
Wouldn’t you like an Alexandria dentist to give you a clear-cut solution to help you excel in oral health? You are not alone. It would be nice to have one dental protocol to fix all your oral care needs. Although that is not the case, general dental care comprises a few fundamental practices crucial for sustaining excellent oral health. A good place to start is catering to your dental hygiene by way of flossing.
What Is Flossing?
It is a process of removing plaque and food debris from in between teeth using dental floss. A typical dental floss features a thin, soft-threaded filament that can easily get between teeth. There are different types of dental flosses available. However, one dental floss can work well for some patients but not all. The difference is in teeth’ alignment. For example, a typical dental floss may not be effective if you have large gaps and spaces between your teeth. Therefore, a dentist near you may recommend a dental tape. On the other hand, if your teeth are crowded or tightly spaced, a standard dental floss will not glide smoothly. Instead, your dentist may recommend floss with a wax coating. Either way, the goal should be to remove any debris between teeth, typically hard to reach with regular teeth brushing.
How Should You Floss Your Teeth?
First, ensure you identify a dental floss that works for your teeth. Once you do, wind about 18-24 inches of the filament on your index finger. Place the floss between your teeth and gently glide it against the adjacent teeth. Glide it up and down in gentle motions, avoiding your gums. If you let the dental floss go too deep between your teeth, it can hurt your gums, causing swelling, bleeding, and dental pain.
To clean the base of your adjacent teeth, curve out the dental floss while you approach the gum line. As the floss curves toward a particular tooth, you can easily clean the space between your gums and your tooth. If you have a hard time mastering your flossing at home, liaise with a dentist near you to learn how to do it effectively and safely.
When Should You Floss Your Teeth?
The important thing about flossing is that you should do it daily. It disallows food residues from turning into plaque that gradually deteriorates your oral health. However, the best time to floss your teeth is before brushing them. It is because flossing will lift the residue between teeth so you can clean them off with your toothbrush. Besides, you do not want to retain food residues that flossing lifts from your teeth in your mouth after brushing them.
Do You Need a Dentist for Dental Flossing?
Some patients are surprised when we recommend additional professional flossing at Burton Dentistry. Ideally, floss your teeth every day to maintain excellent oral hygiene. However, an extra measure in preventive dentistry will benefit your general oral health. During routine dental cleanings with your dentist, flossing is necessary. When a dental hygienist or dentist flosses your teeth, it is more thorough than what you do at home. Besides, flossing coupled with other steps like root planing and scaling, the dentist will rid your oral cavity of plaque and tartar, threatening good dental health.
Further, you need help with dental flossing if you have dental restorations and appliances like metal braces, dental bridges, or partial dentures. Since you should not skip flossing, you might as well entrust your dentist with the responsibility of training you how to do it yourself at home. Besides, your dentist can also introduce you to a different type of dental floss called a water flosser, highly effective for patients with braces. It uses water and pressure to remove food particles in between teeth.
How Will Dental Flossing Help Your Oral Health?
Some of the incredible benefits of dental flossing are:
- Fighting cavities – dental caries does not just develop on the chewing surfaces of teeth. They can also develop between teeth or at the base near the gum line.
- Reducing the risk of periodontal disease – your gums’ health is at a high risk of infection if you do not consistently remove the food residues between your teeth.
- Overcoming bad breath – if you brush your teeth and skip flossing, old food residue between your teeth can cause a strong mouth odor.