If you’re looking for a way to improve your oral health, you may have heard of dental floss. But what is it? How can it help you? And how do you use it? Dental floss is a thin thread that is used to remove plaque and food debris from between teeth. It can be made out of nylon or silk, and there are several different types available on the market today. While many people tend to think of dental floss as something for adults only, it’s actually recommended that children begin using floss at an early age as well.
There are two main ways to use dental floss: interdental cleaning and stringing. Interdental cleaning involves passing the end of the floss between two teeth and pulling it through with a series of gentle back-and-forth motions. Stringing involves wrapping the floss around two or more teeth in order to clear out any food particles trapped between them.
This article will explain how to floss properly and how to floss back teeth
How to use dental floss reddit
Flossing your teeth may seem hard – I found traditional flossing with a piece of string too much of a hassle and very hard to maintain regularly, and many people don’t even do it all all, But dentists don’t tell you to floss every day for no reason – if you want good teeth then you need to floss, it’s that simple. Unfortunately (for them) many people don’t floss (maybe that’s why our dental clinic is always so busy!).
Flossing removes plaque under the gum line and between your teeth where neither a traditional toothbrush nor an electric toothbrush cannot reach. Plaque build-up leads to tooth decay and gum disease, so we to visit the dentist less often and keep your teeth into old age, you need to floss your teeth daily.
New flossing methods make it easier to keep your teeth clean and healthy
Keep reading for the perfect dental routine for flawless teeth, discuss the merits of traditional flossing, look at the latest craze; flossing with interdental brushes (commonly known as piksters), examine whether or not you should use a water flosser and show you different ways to floss, including the easiest and most effective way.
Best floss for braces
Flossing is an essential step in oral hygiene that most people overlook. In addition, it is crucial to maintain excellent oral hygiene while wearing braces to avoid developing white spots, cavities, and gum disease. It can be detrimental to your treatment if you do not adhere to proper oral hygiene, and in severe cases, your braces may need to be taken off sooner than you expected.
WHY IS FLOSSING IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVE BRACES?
Braces create many hard-to-reach areas that are difficult to clean with dental floss alone. Food can get trapped between your teeth and under your braces, leading to plaque buildup and tooth decay. Another important reason for flossing is to remove food particles that become stuck in the brackets of your braces. This helps prevent cavities and dental diseases such as gingivitis. Gingivitis causes inflammation of the gums and leads to redness, swelling, bleeding during brushing or flossing, bad breath (halitosis), pain when chewing certain foods, discomfort when wearing dental appliances like orthodontic bands or bridges, etc.
RECOMMENDED TYPES OF DENTAL FLOSS FOR BRACES
#1: WAXED FLOSS
Waxed floss is made of thin filaments of plastic or Teflon coated in wax. The wax makes it easy to slip the floss between your teeth and glide against the surfaces you’re trying to clean. Waxed dental floss is recommended for those with braces, as it tends to slide better between closely-spaced teeth. Like dental super floss, you can use it around dental appliances for added cleaning ability.
#2: SUPER FLOSS
Super floss is a dental tape pre-threaded on a plastic, disposable wand with a dental tape-like tip on one end. It can be threaded along the inside of your teeth and around metal appliances such as braces or permanent retainers to aid in cleaning hard-to-reach places.
#3: FLOSS THREADER
A floss threader is made of two small loops attached to either end of a thin wire with a handle at the end. They allow you to floss between very tightly spaced teeth by threading dental floss through them.
#4: ORTHODONTIC FLOSSER
An orthodontic flosser looks like dental super floss with a handle. The handle allows you to place the dental floss against the wire of your dental appliance so that it won’t slip off while you are trying to clean your teeth.
#5: WATERPIK
A Waterpik is a dental appliance that shoots a pressurized jet of water between your teeth and under dental appliances. This helps remove food particles and dental plaque buildup, thus reducing the risk of dental disease such as gingivitis. In addition, some Waterpiks have attachments that move side to side or up and down along the wire of dental appliances for a more thorough dental cleaning.
To determine the best dental floss for braces, you need to consider how much space there is between your teeth and whether or not you wear dental appliances like orthodontic bands or retainers.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR FLOSSING WITH BRACES
With braces, flossing can be a little tricky and time-consuming at first, but the more you do it, the more efficient you will become!
Step One: Wrap dental floss around your middle fingers, leaving two inches between them. Use your thumbs and forefingers to guide the dental floss between your teeth.
Step Two: Gently slide dental floss up and down against one side of each tooth in a sawing motion until you reach the gum line. Do not snap the dental floss into place or force it in a back-and-forth motion along the teeth’ surfaces because this could damage the surface of your dental enamel.
Step Three: Repeat steps 1 & 2 on all sides of every tooth until you have flossed every space in your mouth that is visible with braces or dental appliances. If an area is difficult to reach with dental floss, you can opt for dental super floss or dental floss threaders.
Step Four: When finished with your dental flossing session, rinse the excess dental floss out in warm water and dispose of it properly in a waste receptacle.
Along with flossing, we recommend using an electronic toothbrush and visiting your dentist at least every six months for a checkup and cleaning.
How To Floss Properly
Wind: Wind 18 inches of floss around your middle fingers.
To use this as a guide, pinch the floss between your thumbs and index fingers, leaving a 1- or 2-inch length. Pull floss between your upper teeth using your thumbs.
Use a zigzag motion to gently guide the floss between your teeth. Don’t break the floss between your teeth.
Design: Curve the floss into a C around the tooth.
Slide the floss up and down against the tooth and under the gum line. It’s just as important to floss the spaces between your teeth. Use a new section of floss for each tooth.
How To Floss Back Teeth
Without flossing, your dental hygiene routine is incomplete. Despite the fact that brushing is the best method for removing plaque, tartar, food debris, and oral bacteria, it is not sufficient for a thorough cleaning of the mouth.
This is because normal brushing cannot remove plaque from in between the teeth. Plaque and bacteria can only be eliminated from the space between the gums and teeth by flossing. This is difficult for many patients, especially when it comes to the back teeth. If you’re having trouble flossing between your back teeth, the folks at Honest Teeth have some advice that should help:
Make sure you’re using good technique and the right length of dental floss.
If you want clean molars in the back of your mouth, you must floss correctly. The ideal length of dental floss to use when flossing is between 18 and 24 inches. Once you’ve done that, wrap the ends around your first and second fingers.
Using a sawing motion, gently pull the floss between your teeth to loosen food and clean the tooth’s surface. In need of an illustration? In order to see how it’s done correctly, check out this video from eHowhealth.
If you want to floss your back teeth, you’ll need to use a longer piece of floss.
It can be helpful to use a slightly longer piece of floss when you get to your back teeth. To gain more control, unwind the floss from your fingers a little.
If you’re having trouble reaching your back teeth, try using a floss pick.
If you have trouble reaching the back of your mouth with regular floss because of limited dexterity or an overactive gag reflex, a floss pick may be a more suitable option.
Floss picks are an alternative to regular floss if you have trouble with proper technique; they have a hard plastic head with a piece of floss stretched between its two tips.
You could also consider using a water flosser.
Plaque can be easily removed from the teeth with the help of a water flosser, such as the popular WaterPik. For those who have trouble reaching their back teeth with regular floss or a floss pick, a water flosser could be a helpful alternative.