Floss like a Boss

I know that I’ve written about this before, but flossing is incredibly important!  A recent GQ article interviews a dentist who has great advice and information about caring for your teeth; you can read it here. 

If you don’t floss your teeth, you aren’t cleaning between the teeth (almost 40% of your tooth surface) which your toothbrush can’t reach.  Flossing also helps to keep the gums and bone around the teeth clean and healthy as well.

I often tell my patients that flossing is kind of like weight lifting.  When you first start lifting weights, you are sore.  But, the more you do it, the stronger you become and the less likely your body hurts afterwards.  It sounds counter intuitive, but the more you floss the less likely your gums are to bleed. 

As difficult as it may be to hear, the most common reason for bleeding gums is poor oral hygiene.  I recommend my patients angle their toothbrushes 45 degrees up or down (depending on where you are in the mouth) to clean around the gum line.  Brush your teeth at least twice a day for two minutes, and floss once daily.

I’m always happy to speak more with patients about oral hygiene.  And you can find out more about proper brushing and flossing techniques here.