How To Floss Properly

By Smile Avenue

If you’re reading this article, chances are that you’ve just understood the importance of flossing and want to pick this good habit, right? Kudos to you! Flossing is essential to maintain good oral health and hygiene since it removes plaque from the areas of your teeth where your toothbrush cannot reach.

Dentists all over the world recommend flossing twice every day to keep a healthy set of teeth and decrease your risks of developing gum disease.

But how should you floss? It’s just a thread, right? How are you supposed to slide it up into your narrow teeth gaps? What’s the motion to follow while flossing? The answers to these questions and more are coming up in the following section!

1. Hold it right

First things first! If you have to floss properly, you have to hold it properly. Take out about 10-15 inches of dental floss. Wrap the dental floss around your index finger on both hands and leave a 4-inch gap in between.

Then put both your thumbs on the gap, leaving 2 inches of floss in between your thumbs. This is the length of the floss that you’ll use to clean your teeth and your thumbs will help in guiding the floss across your teeth.

2. Slide it up

The next step, of course, is to slide the dental floss up between your teeth. Slide all the way up and gently slide beneath the gum line. Yes, it’s not dangerous!

3. Move it horizontally

You don’t move the dental floss up and down. The correct way to move the dental floss is horizontal movement. Use your thumbs to press the floss in and move it like a saw.

4. Move from one tooth to the next

Make sure you’re sliding underneath the gum line on either side of each tooth. Keep flossing each tooth until you hear a squeaking sound.

And that’s how you should floss every day for at least two full minutes, twice! You might encounter some problems while flossing. If you notice your gums bleeding while flossing, it is a sign of gum infection. Get immediate gum disease treatment in Cypress, TX from the best dentist near you today. This is to prevent this infection from advancing into gum disease.

If your dental floss keeps wearing out, this is a sign of concern too and you must consult your dentist. However, after 2-4 days, you’re likely to see these problems away!

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