A Mistake You Are Making by Not Flossing

Flossing teeth is actually more important than some would think, if a person fails to floss their teeth on a daily basis they are actually missing up to 40 percent of the tooth surfaces. If teeth don’t get flossed they can also develop gum diseases like gingivitis or periodontitis. By flossing daily, it removes food debris, plaque build-up, and bacteria that infect gums, teeth, and bones reducing the risk of tooth loss.

Now that I’ve said why flossing is so important I will be going over when and how much a person should be flossing. Should you floss or brush your teeth first? Well, the American Dental Association says “either way is acceptable as long as you do a thorough job.” Some people like to floss before brushing to ensure that any debris between teeth is out of the mouth. Others like to first clean their mouth by brushing before working with floss between their teeth. The ADA also recommends flossing your teeth once a day, but it doesn’t hurt to do it more.

The material needed for flossing teeth is floss.

The first step to flossing teeth is to break off 12-18 inches of floss and wrap it around both middle fingers until there is about one to two inches of floss left

Then hold the floss tight with your thumbs and index fingers.

The next step is to place the floss between two teeth in a C-shape and glide the floss up and down rubbing both sides of each tooth.

As the floss reaches the gums stop when the gums are blanched. Repeat the steps for each tooth.

While having braces or a fixed retainer is hard and may take a little longer flossing. It’s very important to floss because braces alter where the toothbrush can reach. Bacteria and food debris can lodge themselves into places of the mouth that they couldn’t before. The materials needed for flossing with a fixed retainer or braces are floss and super floss.

The materials needed for flossing with a fixed retainer or braces are floss and super floss.

The first step is to break off 12-18 inches of floss.

Start by threading the floss through the super floss. Take the pointed end of the super floss and press it between two teeth.

Then move the floss up and down gently alongside both teeth. Move on to the next two teeth and repeat the steps.

I hope that more people will start flossing their teeth now that I have explained the steps of flossing, and why it is so important to floss daily.