Flossing of Teeth

Periodontal disease is one of the most common diseases found in adults which cannot be cured through cosmetic dentistry. These diseases are known to affect people when they are in their 20s and can cause bone loss around the teeth. This will affect the support for the teeth and may even lead to tooth loss. Some of the symptoms to be careful about are bad breath and bleeding gums.

Flossing is an essential part of every person's oral care regimen. The health of your teeth and gums depend on daily flossing as much as on daily brushing.

It is commonly known that plaque build up and periodontal diseases are closely related. There are a variety of dental products like toothbrushes in a variety of designs, mouthwashes with all sorts of fancy ingredients, toothpastes with ability to fight all sorts of tooth problems etc are being launched all the time. Even then, none of these can reduce the effectiveness of simple brushing and flossing in controlling plaque. Most people are aware of the benefits of flossing. But many tend to ignore it either due to the uneasiness in practicing it or due to the pain involved. The front teeth are easy to be flossed. But the rear teeth are a problem as it is hard to reach there. Even if you can reach that far behind, holding the floss properly with both your hands inside your mouth is almost an impossible task to achieve. For many people it is beyond the limits of what they can expand their mouth.

The ideal way to floss is by getting a 12 to 18 inch length of floss and holding it between your index finger and thumb. Floss can be twisted on to these fingers so as to gain proper grip. While flossing upper teeth, control it using your thumb. While flossing the bottom teeth, control your movements with your index finger. Do not let the floss snap in to the gum directly. Let the floss slide on the side of your tooth and on the gum lines. Ideal grip would be to hold the fingers at a distance of one inch.

In order to floss efficiently, you must let the floss slide around the tooth and change the section of the floss for each tooth. When the floss slides around the tooth, it will accumulate all the plaque settled on the tooth and near the gum line. Your toothbrush has no way of reaching these areas of your tooth. As the plaque from each section is getting accumulated on the floss, you must change the section so that the plaque from one tooth does not get spread on to another tooth. A standard floss holder in a Y shape can be used to reach the rear teeth easily. But these can cut in to the gum line on both sides and hurt you a bit. If you have dental bridges, then a floss holder is not useful for you.

Regular flossing is an important part in gaining proper dental health. At the same time, if you do not know the right flossing technique, this may leave a sour taste in your mouth.

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