You Floss With WHAT?!

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You are at your semi-annual check-up with your dentist and everything is going great until that dreaded question. Do you floss your teeth daily? Chances are, you optimistically choose an answer that is somewhat better than your actual habits. You are not alone! According to the ADA, 16% of the public actually floss once a day and 44% of people have exaggerated to their dentist their frequency in flossing.

While flossing daily is crucial and definitely advocated by dentists and hygienists alike, it is also important to recognize that WHAT you floss with is just as important as the frequency of flossing.

In a survey released in October 2017 of 1,005 American adults, 61% used fingernails, 40% used folder paper or cards, 21% used cutlery, 14% used safety pins and 7% used strands of hair to dislodge food stuck between their teeth. Skeptical? From a separate survey, "ADA member dentists reported that patients have told them they’ve used...items to clean between their teeth, including: twigs, toenails, matchbooks, loose electrical wires, screwdrivers and pocket knives." Not only are some of these items unsafe, but they are also unsanitary. Instead of cleaning off bacteria between your teeth, you could be introducing more. Dental floss, dental picks, and Waterpiks are safe to use and help to clean your teeth.  

Dental floss and dental picks are pretty common and most people know how to use them. Waterpiks or water flossers, on the other hand, are not quite as well known.  A water flosser is a hand-held device that sprays water between your teeth to flush out anything that may be stuck there. A Waterpik is a good option for the elderly, individuals with severe arthritis, or an individual with any other factor that prevents them from using their hands to floss properly. A Waterpik should not replace floss for an individual that can floss, but it is a good additional resource to add to your dental hygiene routine to remove food particles and other debris. Only floss can remove plaque and bacteria from the contact area in-between teeth. For more information on how to use a Waterpik click here. Don't have these products? See your dentist! They will be happy to give you a sample of products that will help you to get food and bacteria safely off your teeth.

Want to read more? See the results of the surveys mentioned in this article: 


Happy flossing!
~ Cyrus M. Larson, DMD



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