Dental

Why Flossing is Important and How Be Effective

Flossing is important, and as a matter of fact it may even be more important than brushing. That doesn’t mean that you should skip brushing and floss instead, but rather underpins just how important it is.

To put it simply, flossing is crucial to your oral hygiene because it can help to dislodge bits of food and plaque that may be stuck between your teeth or on its surface. More to the point it can get rid of bacteria too, and prevent plaque from forming in the first place.

With less plaque, food bits, and bacteria, you’ll end up with better overall oral hygiene. That is why it is recommended that you floss at least twice a day, and that is something that you should try to turn into a habit.

How to Floss Effectively

Unfortunately as much as you may know how important it is to floss, the other detail you need to remember is that you need to be flossing effectively. That can be a sticking point, and many people often leave a lot to be desired in terms of their flossing technique.

While the optimal technique can vary slightly, if you want to floss effectively you should:

  1. Take a piece of floss that is 15 to 18 inches in length and wrap the ends around your index fingers.
  2. Slide the floss in between the gaps in your teeth and make sure it wraps around the side of your tooth like a ‘C’.
  3. Move the floss up and down to effectively clean the area between your teeth, then repeat it for the other tooth in that gap.
  4. Remove the floss from the gap between your teeth, and move on to the next set of teeth.

If you follow those steps, you should be able to gradually clean all of your teeth using the floss. Depending on the spacing between your teeth it may be difficult in some cases, but it is important to try to get the floss between your teeth and clean them.

Assuming you have a lot of difficulty, you may want to consult your dentist and ask them for advice. In some cases they’ll be able to recommend a particular technique that may work better for your teeth, or in others they may give you a different type of floss to try that may be thicker or thinner than what you’re already using.

Make no mistake flossing your teeth effectively can improve your oral hygiene dramatically and it is crucial that you don’t skip it because it is tricky or too time consuming. When you next have a regular appointment with your dentist in Sutton you should ask them about whether or not it is effective, and how you can improve on it. Once you start to become more used to the idea of flossing as well as the technique that needs to be used, it will slowly get easier and less time consuming.

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