How to Floss at Home

Want to step up your home dental routine and have the dentist in awe of your healthy smile? Flossing is a great way to make your pearly whites stand out from the crowd.

Flossing is vital to keeping your teeth strong and healthy. Done regularly, it helps to prevent common oral health problems like cavities and gingivitis by removing plaque, bad bacteria, and food particles stuck in your teeth that a toothbrush cannot reach.

Follow our steps down below to learn how to floss the right way and amaze your dentist Gosford during your next appointment!

How to Choose a Type of Floss

There are two different types of floss that are most popular. Using either Nylon/multifilament floss or PTFE/monofilament is good, depending on the type of teeth you have.

Nylon tends to be more popular, with waxed, unwaxed, and flavoured varieties. Unfortunately, if you have crowded teeth that are all squeezed together, Nylon might shred or tear. It could even get stuck in between teeth.

PTFE, on the other hand, doesn’t have this problem. It is good for crowded teeth, but it is slightly more expensive and doesn’t have as much variety says best dentist central coast.

Though both types have their strengths and weaknesses, if used correctly, both are perfect to complete their job of removing plaque and debris from your teeth.

The Right Way to Floss at home

After finding the right type of floss for you, it’s time to learn the steps to do it the right way. Before you brush your teeth, do the following:

1. First, give yourself a generous amount of floss, about 45 centimetres. It seems like a waste, but having the extra string gives you better stability and handling over your teeth care routine. You’ll want to wrap most of the string around the middle fingers on each hand and leave about 2.5 centimetres in the middle to work with.
2. Next, grab the floss firmly between your thumb and index fingers then slide it gently up-and-down between your teeth. Follow the lines of the base of your teeth, making sure to get into the gum line, to get all the plaque out.

Quick Tip: It’s important to be gentle – you don’t want to force it through gaps it will not go, because it could bruise or cut your gum tissue.

When you are getting ready to remove the floss from your teeth, just use the same back-and-forth (like a saw) motion. This time however, you’ll want to navigate it up and away from your gum line.

As you move from tooth to tooth, unwind the floss and use clean sections for each new tooth (about 2.5 centimetres per tooth). Don’t forget to get all the way back to your molars, as plaque tends to build up in the back of your mouth.

And that’s it! It’s recommended that you floss thoroughly at least once per day.

Need to Make a Dental Appointment?

Knowing how to floss properly is important, but it won’t replace a professional cleaning. If it’s time for your regular dental check-up, or if you have any other dental needs, call dental clinic near me today to book an appointment!

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