Do you remember the first time you flossed? For some of us, flossing still seems optional. It may even seem slightly mysterious or esoteric. Surely brushing your teeth is more than sufficient? At our Eastwood dental clinic, our team prides itself on providing sound oral health advice, not simply excellent treatment. And a resounding message in the most common advice is simply this: floss.
It Prevents Calcium Build Up Between Teeth
It’s unfair to expect the world of every tool. Its unreasonable to expect complete oral hygiene to be delivered by the bristles of your toothbrush. Put plainly, there are places your brush cannot reach. The cracks between teeth, the tight spots at the your gum line, the lines between two closely packed teeth – these are all places that bristles neglect. Dental floss has been specifically designed to remove plaque from these places that no toothbrush is designed to scrub. The floss is fine enough to pierce the gaps between teeth. Our Eastwood dental specialists suggest that a gentle motion is sufficient to clean close to the gums without causing harm. In fact, if you floss before you brush, you improve the value of your tooth brushing. With less plaque between your teeth, the toothpaste and fluoride can penetrate into these surfaces that need it most.
So, how do I floss?
- Pull out about 40 cm of floss
- Wrap the ends around your fingers
- Gently slide the floss between your teeth
- Avoid rubbing too close to the gums
- Curve the floss around each tooth and rub up and down
- Avoid rough cutting motions that can harm your gums.
- Throw away the used floss once finished.
- Rinse your mouth out and brush your teeth
It Reduces Risk of Root Exposure and Sensitive Teeth
The tiny space where your gums and teeth meet can be the focal point of considerable, invisible drama. Our Eastwood dental team witness the consequences of this on a daily basis. Small particles of food can lodge there, hardening and building up over time to form plaque, which in time itself forms the hard, thick deposit called tartar. Dr Tang and his Eastwood dental practitioners regularly see patients who have tartar removed with a scaler. Worse still, tartar build up can lead to the red, painful, swollen gums that mark gingivitis, often the first stage of gum disease. This can lead to periodontitis, a severe inflammation that may see you visiting our Eastwood team for tooth removal and bone loss. How can you avoid this drama? Floss. The activity of regular flossing can clean this area and prevent plaque and tartar build up, whereas tooth brushing by and large cannot. Besides, even if you don’t progress down the path to periodontitis, the root exposure that can be caused by plaque in the space between your teeth and gums can make your teeth look long, exposed, and ungainly.
Avoid Bad Breath, and Worse
Flossing not only improves the health of your mouth in ways tooth brushing cannot. It also has a specific cosmetic value. The spaces that dental floss can reach in your mouth are often havens for caught food particles and bacteria, which can lead to bad breath and occasionally discolouration. You may brush with a incentive of having whiter, shinier teeth. But this may be to no avail if your breath and teeth are subpar due to lack of flossing. And these cosmetic problems can also lead to health issues, even serious ones which require urgent treatment performed by Dr Tang and his Eastwood dental team. Periodontitis, as mentioned, can have disastrous results on your teeth and gums. But such oral health problems can also contribute to heart, lung, and even digestive illnesses. A little flossing is a small price to pay in return for improving your overall health.
Call
02 9804 8382
Address
Suite 1/148-150 Rowe St
Eastwood, NSW
Australia 2122
Opening Hours
Mon: Closed
Tues & Thurs: 9am to 6pm
Wed: 10am to 2pm
Fri: Closed
Sat: 9am to 1pm
Sun: Closed