Are You Flossing the Right Way?

Most people believe that just flossing is enough to keep their teeth healthy, but if you are flossing wrong, it may not do you any good. You need to do more than to slide a piece of floss between your teeth and move on to the next tooth. All that does is move the plaque and food particles around, but not really remove them from your mouth.

The Right Way to Floss Your Teeth

When it comes time to floss, you need to make sure that you are getting around the entire tooth. If you only clean the area straight between each tooth, you are missing a part of each tooth that you are trying to floss around.

You need to make sure that you take your floss and bend it towards each tooth that you are flossing around in order to get right up against that tooth and remove anything that may be lodged there.

You should arc the floss towards the tooth in the front of your mouth, while moving the floss back and forth, then you should arc the floss towards the tooth in the back of your mouth with the same movement.

You want to make sure you get around each curve of every tooth in your mouth, including the teeth way at the back of your mouth. Forgetting the back teeth leaves them exposed to a buildup of plaque, which can cause rapid tooth decay.

Remember, when you are done flossing, it is important to go through and use mouthwash to get the loose debris away from your teeth. If you weren’t flossing the right way before, you can be sure that you will be now! Making sure that you floss properly will not only make your mouth happy, but it will be sure to make your dentist happy, too!

Please contact us if you have any questions about flossing and your oral health.