Maintaining good oral hygiene is one of the most important things you can do for your teeth and gums.
Healthy teeth and gums not only make you look and feel good, they help you to speak and (of course) eat properly. Good oral hygiene is paramount to your overall well-being.
Daily brushing and flossing are paramount to good oral health. This preventative care helps prevent problems such as cavities, gum disease, tooth decay, tooth loss and all the pain that goes with these diseases. This is not to mention the expensive procedures necessary to treat these conditions, as well. Daily care of your teeth will lead to a healthy mouth and fewer trips to the dentist.
Regular trips to the dentist are necessary, however. Your dentist can remove harmful build-up of tartar and plaque that accumulates on your teeth over time. Regular brushing and flossing helps slow this process, but only your dentist has the tools to remove the build-ups completely. Visit your dentist regularly (at least twice per year) for cleanings.
In between these trips to the dentist, brushing and flossing are two major steps in good oral health. Proper brushing removes the tartar and plaque on the surfaces of the teeth and kills much of the harmful bacteria that cause plaque and bad breath. Only flossing, however, can remove tartar and plaque that can build up between your teeth. Thorough flossing, in addition to brushing is paramount for good oral health.
Follow these simple instructions of how to floss as outlined below for proper technique.
Your floss should be either made of nylon or plastic (Teflon or polyethylene) ribbon. Most dental floss you find in stores will be made of these materials. Some floss can be either waxed or unwaxed. This thin coating of wax on the floss can make the floss slide between the teeth easier and can help ease the initial pain that is sometimes associated with flossing.
Many flosses now are also flavored, as well. The flavoring does not change the effectiveness of the floss.
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Pull about eighteen inches of floss out from the dispenser. Most dispensers have a small and protected metal blade to cut it. Hold the dental floss by the ends between the forefingers and thumbs. Gently wrap one end of the floss around one forefinger until there is an inch or two between your two forefingers.
Insert one forefinger into your mouth, positioning the floss on a gap between two teeth. Gently slide the floss back and forth (in and out of the mouth), pushing slightly until the floss slides into the gap. Continue the back and forth motion of the floss, following the curves of your teeth, until you reach the gum. Be sure to clean beneath the gumline by applying gentle pressure to the floss. Continuing the back and forth motion, remove the floss from the gap. Repeat for every gap between all your teeth.
As you progress from tooth to tooth, unwrap clean floss from one forefinger and wrap it up with the other, similar to a tape reel. This ensures that you get clean sections of floss for each use. When all the floss is used up, discard in your normal trash.
In your store, next to your toothbrushes and dental floss, you may find wands that look like toothbrushes, but have single strands of floss instead of bristles. These are quite effective for flossing and may be rinsed and reused. They wear out faster than a toothbrush, but are not as disposable as dental floss in the dispenser.
Frankly, one of the main reasons that flossing is painful is that it is simply not done enough. The gums bleed because they are inflamed due to lack of flossing that removes the harmful bacteria that infects the gums. Daily flossing will clean the gums and prevent these gum infections.
Another reason that flossing can be painful is because of improper technique when flossing. You need to know how to floss in order to do it properly. Be sure to use gentle pressure when sliding the floss between the teeth. Snapping the floss or driving it hard into the gums can lacerate the gums, causing pain and bleeding. Try switching to a waxed floss or wetting the teeth with your tongue to make inserting the floss between teeth easier.
Continuous bleeding every time you floss may be indicative of a more serious dental problem. See your dentist if pain and bleeding persists in the same area each time you floss.
Flossing, along with brushing is only a part of good oral hygiene. Regular visits to the dentist are necessary for thorough cleanings and proper care of your teeth and gums. Other ways to improve your oral health include a good diet with healthy snacks between meals, limiting sugar intake, using dental products that contain fluoride, using mouthwash and taking a fluoride supplement. Make oral health part of your overall health by brushing and flossing at least twice per day.
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