How to Floss Your TeethGainesville, VA

What Is Flossing?

Removing plaque is the most important benefit of flossing. Unremoved plaque hardens into tartar, which a dentist must remove. Tartar build-up requires longer dental cleaning sessions.

In addition to removing plaque, flossing helps prevent bad breath, gum disease, gum and tooth infections, cavities, and tooth decay. Learning how to floss correctly will provide maximum oral health benefits. Proper flossing is also more comfortable.

How To Floss

Many flossing tools are available. Floss holders and pre-threaded flossers are helpful for patients who have limited dexterity or for children’s teeth while learning how to floss. Water irrigators or flossers can help in some situations, such as cleaning around braces, but they do not remove plaque.

Only dental floss will entirely remove plaque from under the gums and between the teeth. The two most common flossing methods are the loop or circle method and the spool or finger-wrap method.

The Loop Method:

1. Cut a piece of floss approximately 18 inches long.
2. Tie it firmly into a loop.
3. Put all fingers inside the loop, leaving just the thumbs outside.
4. Using your thumbs, guide the floss between each tooth. Bend the floss in a C-shape along the side of each tooth and below the gum line.

The Spool Method:

1. Cut a piece of floss between 18 and 20 inches long.
2. Wrap each end several times, not too tightly, around each of the middle fingers.
3. Using your index fingers and thumbs, guide the floss between the teeth.
4. Bend the floss into a C-shape, sliding up and down each tooth and under the gums.

How To Floss With Braces

Learning how to floss around braces takes practice. The archwire that connects each brace bracket blocks the path of dental floss halfway along with each tooth. For a completely clean smile dental floss must be threaded underneath the wire.

As dental floss is flimsy, most people with braces use floss threaders: needle-shaped tools with stiff points that easily target the narrow gap under the archwire.

How to use a floss threader:

1. Run the floss threader under the archwire, point first.
2. When the loop at the end passes halfway, thread a few inches of floss through.
3. Floss teeth as usual.
4. Repeat for all teeth.

Younger children with braces will need help flossing with braces, as they might not have the patience or coordination to do it properly. To help a child keep still while flossing, parents often have them watch TV or a video.

Types of Dental Floss

Types of dental floss include textured, smooth, flavored, wide, regular, waxed, ribbon, and string floss.

The effectiveness of dental floss depends upon how it is used. People will be more likely to floss daily and thoroughly if they use their preferred type of floss.