Dentist

A pearly white smile reflects sound oral health. It is not hard to maintain a strong oral health. For that you need to follow the basic oral health and hygiene practices every day. Just brushing your teeth isn’t enough. You’ve to add flossing to your daily dental hygiene routine. Many neglect the importance of flossing while most are not familiar with the right way to floss. With a sound dental health, it is possible to steer clear of the costs associated with high-priced dental procedures.

Interesting Dental Floss Facts

  • In 1815, a New Orleans doctor invented dental floss.
  • In 1898, Johnson & Johnson patented dental floss. At that time, silk was used to make dental floss.
  • In the 1940s, manufacturers started using nylon in the place of silk.
  • It is a wrong notion that pregnant women can’t floss. In fact, there are materials and techniques for everyone who wish to maintain good oral health and hygiene by flossing.

Flossing helps in cleaning the gaps between your teeth as a result of which, gum infections and cavities are less likely develop from bacteria build-up. You can reap all the benefits of flossing if you do it regularly and religiously at least, once a day.

Want to know about the benefits of flossing? We’ll explore them in the following section. But before that, let’s find out what dental flossing is and about the types of dental floss.

What Is Dental Flossing?

Dental floss is a like a thin thread made of nylon or plastic. It helps to remove the food and bacteria deposits in-between the teeth. You need to place the dental floss between your teeth and then, pull to clean the gaps properly. The food and debris come out from the gaps when you pull on the thread.

What Are The Types Of Dental Floss?

Different types of dental floss are available in the healthcare market. You can easily purchase them from a local drugstore or a supermarket. A certain type of ribbon or thread is used in each type of dental floss but the packaging and materials differ. While some types of dental floss are made of nylon or plastic string, others use ribbon.

A Fact

Compared to traditional floss, ribbon floss is more comfortable and smoother. In case you find your gums aching or bleeding after flossing your teeth, you may try ribbon floss.
There is automatic floss as well. If you’re having a hard time getting your flossing technique perfect, you may go for the automatic floss option. Automatic floss is designed with a nylon filament in order to clean the gaps between your teeth.

If you have braces, you should use waxed flossing products. Unwaxed flossing products can get tangled in your braces. Floss carefully ensuring that your braces don’t get damaged.
How do you know which dental floss is suitable for you? Consult your dentist before purchasing one. Also, gain knowledge about the correct flossing techniques.

Now, when we’ve discussed about dental flossing and types of dental floss, let’s move on to talk about the benefits of dental flossing.

How Can You Benefit From Dental Flossing?

As already stated in the introductory paragraph, both brushing and flossing is necessary to have a cleaner and healthier smile. Brushing only cleans the surface of the teeth. If you don’t clean the gaps between your teeth thoroughly, bacteria will reside in your mouth.  And flossing is the best way to clean out the spaces between the teeth.

Bacteria build-up can cause serious problems. Cavities, tooth decay and periodontal (gum) disease are to name a few. If gum disease is not treated on time, it can lead to diabetes, high body mass index and cardiovascular disease.

Bad breath and stained and yellowish teeth are also, the results of bacteria deposits. Stained and yellowish teeth can’t give you a sparkling smile. Therefore, flossing is really helpful in improving oral health and appearance of your smile.

A Fact

Oral health is a window to overall health.

How Often You Need To Floss?

You don’t require flossing several times a day. Flossing your teeth once a day will do but you’ve to do it correctly. Flossing quickly and improperly will not remove bacteria and food deposits. This goes against the purpose of flossing. So, it is advisable to floss regularly and slowly once a day so that your mouth is clean and healthy.