The Importance of Flossing

Flossing: Probably the most overlooked part of a person’s dental routine. It is often dubbed chore-like in nature, taking time to move between each individual tooth with your line of floss. Whilst there remain other ways to remove stuck food from between teeth, like toothpicks and dental flossers, flossing at home is still a crucial step in the overall health of your teeth and gums.

 What You Miss by Not Flossing

When you fail to floss, there are two major dental issues that you could be opening yourself up to. These are:

• Gingivitis: Inflammation of the gums.
• Cavities: Decaying of the tooth, which can lead to infections and tooth loss.

By contracting one, or both, of these dental issues, it can have massive repercussions to your overall dental health. For instance, Gingivitis, if left untreated, can evolve into periodontal disease which can enter the bloodstream and the respiratory tract. It has been linked to diabetes and is said to also take an impact on the risk of low birth weight in newborns.

It is so easy to get on top of your dental health if you take the time to do it properly. That includes regularly flossing, washing out your mouth and having dentist visits on top of brushing twice daily.

 How to Floss Properly

Although flossing is a major component of any dental routine, it is not uncommon for people to get it all wrong! To get the most out of your flossing techniques, ensure that you follow the below rules.

• Start with roughly 20 centimetres of floss and leave roughly 3 centimetres to work with at a time.
• Wrap the floss around your index fingers and hold in place with thumbs.
• Move the floss gently between your teeth, sliding up and down to remove any lodged food or bacteria.
• Use clean sections of floss as you move on to other teeth.

Repeat the process until you have cleaned between each tooth. From here, it may be worth doing a quick rinse with mouthwash to get rid of any remaining bacteria. Whilst many stop at brushing, using floss between the teeth is vital to remove what brushing doesn’t.

Ensure that your oral hygiene is at its best by not only brushing and flossing regularly, but by visiting your dentist for regular check-ups and cleans. Book your next dental clean with Dental on Clarendon. You can find all contact information here.