Dental Floss

What’s So Important About Dental Floss?

Aside from brushing twice each day and visiting your dentist on a regular basis, there is one other habit that the American Dental Association (ADA) recommends for maintaining good oral health. It is flossing, and everyone is supposed to do it once (or more) per day. Each and every day, we are all expected to use dental floss to clean between our teeth.

Dental floss was invented by a dentist in New Orleans in 1815. He recommended that his patients use silk floss. Consumers were not able to purchase dental floss until much later, though, when companies began mass-producing floss in the late 1800s.

There are several types of dental floss. Some is sold in plastic containers holding between 10 and 50 yards of floss. This floss may be waxed or unwaxed, and it is available in different flavors like cinnamon and peppermint. Dental floss also comes in special shapes as well. There is flat floss, round floss, and ultra floss that is spongy and soft.

Floss picks have also been designed to hold the dental floss. These picks, or wands, sometimes come with floss attached as disposable, single-use picks. Others have a dispenser of dental floss attached to the wand.

Without a wand or a pick, people must use their fingers to hold onto the floss. Most people wrap the dental floss around one or two fingers in order to get a better grasp of the floss. Some people, however, make a tied loop which they can rotate around to use.

Using dental floss is not complicated. A person needs to simply slide the floss up between the teeth, curving it into the shape of a letter ‘c’. While the floss is curved, the person needs to move the floss gently back and forth, moving away from the gum line.

As easy as it sounds, though, many people do not floss correctly. Here are some guidelines on how (and why) to properly use dental floss:

• Pull the floss snugly against the side of each tooth when curving it into the letter ‘c’ shape. This will scrub off the dental plaque most effectively.
• Keep the pressure of the floss on the tooth, never up onto the gum line.
• Floss daily, not sporadically. Plaque reforms on the teeth after 24 hours, so using dental floss at least once daily maintains good oral health.
• Without daily flossing, plaque can and will turn into dental tartar—which cannot be brushed or flossed away.
• Using dental floss only occasionally can lead to bleeding gums, gingivitis, and halitosis.

As important as it is to floss, many people tend to skip this oral health care step. There are quite a lot of people who use dental floss only once or twice a week—or even less often than that. According to the ADA, only about 12 per cent of Americans use dental floss every day. Forty nine per cent of people do not floss at all.

Using dental floss is a very important part of good oral hygiene. Start practicing this vital dental care habit today.