Flossing is one of the most appreciable dental hygiene practices that you can follow daily. Every one of us might have the habit of brushing twice a day.
However, flossing may not be a routine at all. But suppose you are someone who follows this daily. In that case, you are less likely to develop issues such as plaques, various kinds of gum diseases, cavities, bleeding, and unwanted bacterial infections inside your mouth.
Unlike brushing, the right way to floss is not discussed much. Hence, many of us are still unaware of the right steps you need to follow to do the flossing properly.
This article will let you know the steps of flossing most comprehensively.
What Are The Steps To Flossing The Teeth Properly?
If you are flossing, you must follow in the right manner to prevent any kind of damage that is probable cause to the teeth and the gums as a part of flossing.
Improper flossing can lead to more complex issues that may not happen if you do not floss at all. Here is all you need to do the flossing correctly.
- Every time you floss, take around 18-24 inches of floss from the package. Wind most of the floss securely into the middle fingers of your hand. Have 1-2 inches of floss to do the work inside your mouth, and that is all you need.
- Make sure you are holding the functional 1-2 inches of the floss with the help of your thumb and index fingers.
- Now, comes the real procedure of flossing. You can keep the floss in between two teeth and then make an up-and-down movement gently.
- It is also important that you touch both side surfaces of the teeth using the floss, to get rid of any accumulated food particles or foreign substances in the gaps.
- Just like you are ensuring the rubbing of the floss against the side surfaces of the teeth, it is also quite important that you are not pressing the floss hard over the gums.
- While making the vertical movements between your teeth, be cautious to stop just before the floss is about to put pressure on your gums.
- Pressing hard on your gums can be quite consequential since this specific action is likely to make scratches or bruises on your gums, damaging the health of your gums.
- If you are giving regular intense pressure on your gums like that while flossing, you can easily develop issues like gum diseases including painful and bleeding gums.
- Since it is advised not to press hard against your gums, you may make a C curve when the floss is about to touch the gums and then bring the floss upwards.
- This can help protect the health of the gums and also ensure that no food particles are stuck in the gaps of the teeth.
- After completing the gap between two teeth, you may move to the next gap by ditching the part of the floss that you have used for the previous one.
- You may unwind the next 1-2 inches of floss from the remaining floss wound to your middle fingers.
Flossing for people with braces
If you are someone, dental floss can be a bit more challenging for you since the gaps between your teeth cannot be easily delved into using regular flosses.
However, this issue can be sorted out using an alternative to regular flosses. It is also important to note that you can still floss your teeth using regular floss if you do not have access to the flosses made specifically for people wearing braces.
You can still get the work done by committing more time and patience to it. This might take you around 1-15 minutes, according to your experience level in flossing.
You can also reduce the time with regular practice with the same. Now, we will let you know about the alternative option, in which you can easily get the work done using flosses exclusively targeting people with braces.
Waxed flosses are your savior in this concern and this is less likely to get stuck in between the gaps of your teeth and braces. It will not get easily torn while flossing tricky areas of your teeth.
- Flossing in teeth with braces is just the same as you do it with teeth without braces except that you are supposed to do it in two parts. First would be the upper side of your teeth ending at the beginning of your main wire.
- The gliding motion can be repeated on the downside too.
- However, when you are flossing the upper side, make sure you are applying only gentle pressure to prevent the dislodging of the braces.
- This may feel tricky and time-consuming at the beginning. However, once you get used to it, you can get it done easily in no time.
Water Flossers and floss threaders are also tools available in the market to make the process of flossing much easier for those who have braces on.
You may try your hands on these products too, if you find it tricky to get a knack for using the regular floss or waxed floss to get the work done.
These tools can also be quite time-saving in every aspect even if you have to invest a bit more money in them in the beginning.
Conclusion
Now you know everything you need to know about flossing and the right steps you need to follow while flossing. The type of motion you need to practice while bringing the floss in contact with your gums is quite important and has been discussed in the article in detail.
Apart from that, we have also tried to address the issues of people with braces when it comes to flossing. Maintaining proper oral hygiene is quite important even if you have braces or not.
However, when you have braces on your teeth, you are more likely to accumulate food particles and other waste materials in between your teeth which need to be flossed and brushed out regularly.
References
- Fleming E, et al. (2019). Prevalence of daily flossing among adults by selected risk factors for periodontal disease — United States, 2009–2014.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6434526/ - Hujoel PP, et al. (2006). Dental flossing and interproximal caries: A systematic review. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1177/154405910608500404
