Do You Floss?

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

14 May 2009 03:05 PM

Flossing is good for your pearly whites... but a lot of people don't bother unless there's something stuck.

Why is flossing important, anyway? Dental floss is the best way to get plaque out from between the teeth and right at the gumline. Since a lot of periodontal disease tends to start at the gums, flossing is a good way to prevent problems. Brushing alone doesn't always clear all the plaque.

Here's the way to do it, according to the American Dental Hygienists' Association:

1. Get about a foot and a half (18 inches) of floss. No, you don't need to measure it, but you want to have enough handy that you're doing each tooth with a clean piece of dental floss.
2. Wind the floss around the middle fingers of each hand, leaving about two inches of floss free. Use your thumbs and index fingers to hold on to and guide the string.
3. Keeping the floss tight between your fingers, guide the floss between your teeth using a zigzag motion. Don't just go up and down -- seesaw the string around so it cleans the entire area.

The ADHA suggests doing the upper teeth first and the lower teeth second. But if it's more comfortable for you, do the lower ones first! If you find the method that is the easiest and most comfortable for you, you're more likely to stick with the flossing habit! Personally, I like to start in the middle of my top teeth and work my way to the left, then to the right. Once in a while, for variety, I start with the back and work my way forward.

If flossing with traditional dental floss is too awkward or uncomfortable for you, there are lots of handy little floss holders out there that might make it easier. Talk to your dentist or dental hygienist about other options.

Did you know there's a National Flossing Council? It's got lots of good info -- but it also has a GREAT sense of humor. You can read floss-related haiku, experience floss art, watch video clips, and more.

Here's a strange piece of trivia from the National Flossing Council -- floss doesn't just come in mint and cinnamon flavors anymore. You can actually buy bacon flavored dental floss! That sounds kind of gross to me, but if you're a bacon lover, it might be the perfect motivator.

And don't forget National Flossing Day -- the day after Thanksgiving. I'll be marking my calendar for that one!

Learn more about Aimee Amodio

Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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Samual (11722) 15 May 2009 04:40 AM

We don't use floss here, we used interdentals as flossing doesn't remove plaque very well or toughen the gums. They come in different sizes dependent of the gaps between each tooth. There is a picture in the link.

http://www.ada.org.au/ods/media/images/interdentals-xsoft.jpg

ruthann8 (6378) 15 May 2009 06:03 PM

I floss twice a day. But I use the Reach flosser and I LOVE it.