Meadowlark Dental Care Blog

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 teet...

An in-depth look at: Flossing. Is it really necessary? Flossing isn’t fun. It hurts your fingers, it's hard to get it between your back teeth, teeth can be tight together, fillings can cut floss, etc etc. I’ve heard it all. Besides the difficulties sometimes associated with flossing, it takes time, it doesn’t make things feel any cleaner, it can hurt, and the immediate benefit can be difficult to visualize. So, what does it do? Flossing in simple terms disrupts bacteria. It takes a colony of bacteria that’s forming in between your teeth and dismantles it. It removes some plaque from in between your teeth, but mostly it stirs up the bacteria that lives there and destroys their progress. After a dental cleaning your mouth immediately begins the process of building back that plaque and tartar that was just removed. Plaque forms on the surface of the tooth, saliva deposits minerals onto the tooth and, if left long enough, that becomes tartar. Tartar or calculus is a c...

Brushing your teeth and flossing are no-brainers to dental professionals, but to a lot of people they can be hard habits to form. Whether it's the daunting time commitment or simply just forgetting, starting and keeping these healthy habits can be tricky. If motivation is lacking, it is important to know that these practices, though simple, are actually the most important things you can do for the health of your mouth. The  Journal of Dental Research   study in October 2016 made it clear there is a direct correlation between how frequently you brush and the number of cavities you get. The more you brush, typically, the less cavities you will form. Brushing and especially flossing will also help you to prevent gum disease. So, how often should you brush to keep your teeth happy and healthy? A standard recommendation is to brush twice per day and floss once per day. All mouths are different and some may need a little more TLC. Try to brush for at least two minutes....