Healthy gums don’t bleed, and are not painful to floss at all.
I’m in my 30s and only recently learned flossing technique and got my gums healthy. Flossing used to take so long and always involved a lot of bleeding no matter how delicate I was.
These days I’m absolute savage with floss and interdental brushes and never have any blood or pain.
Once you get your gums healthy you’ll be disgusted at yourself for ever not flossing. The amount of disgusting I can floss out on an almost daily basis is insane.
Plus you’re breath will not smell gross anymore.
It’s worth committing to the habit of flossing. Trust me.
Dentists here (UK) stopped recommending flossing years ago. IIRC they actively discourage you from flossing. Instead the recommend interdental brushes
This is news to me. My teeth are hella tightly packed tho.
Do yourself a favour and buy some biodegradable floss picks. String is a fucking nightmare.
or drop the big bucks on a water flosser.
wow, didn’t know this was a thing. Now I have a journey to try to discover the best option out there and get it
I bought the Waterpik deluxe version a while go and have come to regret it. It works fine, but it’s noisy as hell. I’ve been told the Panasonic version is much nicer and quieter. I’ll be picking one up shortly because I don’t need a jackhammer sound in the bathroom every time I waterfloss my teeth.
Still, a water flosser is very much worth it. They clean well, and my dentist has remarked on how good everything looks with my gums when I’ve been using it regularly. Even if the Waterpik was all I could have, I would still keep using it despite the noise.
Yes!! I use a water flosser after normal dental floss every night and it often still gets bits that normal floss missed. That’s my motivation for doing it every night, just knowing those food bits are in there…
THIS
Any suggestions? I haven’t really liked the sticks I’ve tried
Floss picks, or floss sticks?
I use these ones: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/cXwAAOSwkMhfKe5i/s-l300.jpg
I like these ones because they keep the floss tight for a long time. Other picks I’ve tried go flaccid mid clean. Nothing worse than a floppy pick in your mouth.
I misread pick as stick, none of the stick ones have been that great. I’ve also had bad experiences with limp picks so thanks for recommending some nice hard picks!
Of course, my pleasure! And now a nice hard pick can be your pleasure too. Just be sure you get it deep in there to get your back teeth, and remember to use the tip.
When my gums don’t bleed i turn the water pick up a notch
My biggest impediment before to flossing was just the time it took. I always held off on flossing until the end of brushing, my “routine” was to brush, then floss, BUT oftentimes I’d just brush first, consider it good enough and then just skip the flossing because, hey I already brushed, I’m good, right? Mentally I was done with the whole thing as soon as I finished brushing.
So I switched the order around and I floss first now, which seems to work better. I’m not actually “done” with brushing until I brush, so once I floss I can’t just skip the brushing part. It’s a small change, but it’s helped me keep up a better routine.
A water flosser takes 30 seconds. (I’m in this thread shilling for water flossers.)
I have one sitting around, but I just really couldn’t get into it, it just felt so… unnatural. Maybe they’re supposed to be better than normal flossing, but it’s never felt right for me.
I like to use a floss pick, then waterpik, then electric toothbrush.
I just grab a floss pick, go sit in front of my computer, and floss while distracting myself with something else. That way I don’t have to devote any focus or effort to flossing and it goes by much easier.
Same, floss at my desk on autopilot 99% of the time.
Picked up the habit during corona times.
I’m team subconscious flossing as well
I’ve done my best to make flossing with a pick a family affair while watching TV after dinner.
More or less works as routine for SOME PEOPLE who don’t enjoy dental hygiene lol.
My teeth are just really tightly togheter… I have absolutely no idea where an interdental brush would even go, it just bends and breaks if I try to push it between my teeth. Even getting the floss in there is already hard.
Waterpik m8
Yeah, I have right teeth and my dentist recommended a water pick. Works great but I still floss occasionally as I’m worried the water pick can’t get everything.
There are other forms of flossing strings for this problem. Have the same problem and i would never go back to normal string again
The only interdental brush I find I can use is Piksters. All the others bend so easily.
I wish they were cheaper.
Yeah the piksters ones are the way to go
my dentist recommends the waterpik instead of flossing, he says floss can damage tissue if this is the case.
I can get floss in between mine, but my dentist says that tighter together teeth get less food stuck in there (although I’m sure there are different levels where it can start to be bad)
I also have tightly packed teeth and can barely use interdental brushes on just some of them. What works well however are dental floss sticks, you can get them with pretty thin floss(es?) and they’re way easier to use than plain floss.
Dental floss sticks are great, but I started to worry about the amount of plastic waste, so I switched to a floss holder. I use the toothbat, but there are others out there in the marketplace.
Oral b pro glide works well. Pay for the more expensive floss and you won’t have this issue as much.
Try the pink interprox ones. They are the thinnest ones.
Otherwise ask your dentist if they can show you how to use them. Just because your teeth are really tight together doesn’t mean that there won’t be any buildup of food or other things.
That junk you get out when you floss actually smells just like bad breath. Might seem obvious but always good to keep in mind when you’re feeling too lazy to floss.
Today I learned… Well, I’ll be flossing more often :)
Flossing > brushing. You need both but if I could only have one, it would be flossing.
You could also use one of those water pick things that use a pressurised water jet to clean between your teeth. After I started using one regularly my dentist even remarked on how much better my gums were looking.
My girlfriend bought one of those. I thought she was fooled by some advertisement but that thing is the best. No bleeding, super clean feeling, no stuck floss between teeth and dentist thought things look great. The only thing they said was to try to switch sides with the water jet, meaning to put the jet from the inside towards out every once in a while. All in a great invention.
I’ve heard that they can push things under your gums, and should actually be avoided. Not sure how accurate that is, though.
My teeth were tight too. Broke even the thinnest floss but keep trying. Eventually it became easier - broke s lot too. We use those little Plackers flossers and floss while watching TV or watching birds.
Yes, my dentist thought I was flossing because I use an off brand water pick. No, Sir. I just use water jets to blast away invaders.
That is flossing though.
I had to go to an unscheduled dentist visit once to remove some floss that was stuck between my molars. So much pain, and so much relief once they were able to remove it.
Use Pro-Glide waxed floss. Doesn’t get stuck like the cheap stuff
This was over 20 years ago so I don’t remember what kind I had then. But definitely go for the waxed floss now.
If you have trouble flossing, I highly recommend this. IIRC it’s made of nylon and it’s soooo much smoother than ordinary waxed floss. Think of it as easy mode.
However, I do recommend going back to regular waxed floss if and when you can do so comfortably. It’s more abrasive, and thus more effective at actually removing residue. So said my hygienist, and after switching back to regular waxed, I understand why. I can literally see the difference in how much comes out on the floss.
Of course, talk to your dentist and follow their advice over a random internet stranger. And either way, do not let perfect be the enemy of good. Do whatever you need to do to get in the habit of flossing every day. I don’t think I could have cemented my habit of flossing if I hadn’t picked up the nylon floss at first.
Might be a silly question but couldn’t you just use floss to remove a stuck piece of floss? That’s what I do when it shreds and gets stuck.
Believe me, I tried. I couldn’t get the floss between those teeth. The hygienist also had a lot of difficulty. It stopped being a problem several years later when I had a root canal on one of those problem teeth.
It’s uncomfortable for my fingers. The floss eventually becomes tight and stops the blood.
Try an EZ Floss. Their website is straight from 2005 but I’ve found these to work the best (after you get past the learning curve)
It’s a lot more plastic waste, but have you tried those fancy plastic sticks with dental floss on, I believe they are called “dental floss picks” in English? Makes it quite easy to floss, and they can be bought bulk pretty cheap, at least where I live.
I imagine that a floss pick is better than nothing, but string floss is the best way to go about it. Proper flossing technique requires you to be able to have a small amount of slack so that the floss can wrap around the contour of your tooth and slide past the “triangle” between your teeth. The floss picks are too taut to be able to do that adequately.
I’ll also say that I completely agree with OP: picking up a good flossing regiment helped my mouth health immensely. It also helped improve my gum health and made my teeth feel “tighter” in my mouth, not like they were always a little bit loose.
My main issue with flossing is that when I try, the floss always get stuck and it becomes super hard to get it out and it makes me feel really uncomfortable. I find using water flossing a lot easier for me, even if it isn’t as effective
I’ve had it get stuck in my teath before. A second string of floss seemed unable to find the right spot to go between the teeth to attempt to clear it. A trip to the garage to get some needle nose pliers did the trick.
The floss picks are too taut to be able to do that adequately.
The cheap ones I use do go a bit slack, but maybe that’s just because the plastic is cheap and soft.
My father had one you could thread floss onto yourself. Reusable.
There are tools for this! Little brackets with floss already in place (in several shapes, the floss straight, sideways, or in angle, long or short handle) or bigger ones where you can manually wind the floss around.
Deal: Dental Floss Picks, Clean Dental Flossers Kit (2 Handles&180 Extra Strength Refills) https://amzn.eu/d/gCGoSKg
I swear by this thing, although mine is made by Jordan who appear to have discontinued it. This seems like a good replacement.
This is more environmentally friendly than the disposable ones that come with a toothpick, as you only need to dispose of the tiny horseshoe shape thing when the floss snaps.
I also have one just like that. It’s very similar to holding a toothbrush, so it’s easy to use- especially if one has motor problems or other ailment/sensitivity in hands/fingers.
When you first start flossing again am I the only one that thinks… it hurts so good?
Yes! I’m obsessed with how it feels. It’s pain but relieving at the same time.
I know what you mean! There’s something about that tender gum feeling that is more appealing and less wholly negative than other pain. I haven’t had it in a while because I do floss daily now, but I definitely can relate.
Are those waterflossers any good?
No. Recently asked the same question to an expert. She told me that they are shit.
That could be the one out of four dentists that disagrees. Ask four more and report back.
Best motivation to floss? Do it once and smell the floss string after, our mouths are truly vile.
It’s kinda disgustingly satisfying when you pull gunk out. Then to think I never used to floss and that gunk used to just stay there…. 🤢
I didn’t realize how uncomfortable my gums were until I started flossing. Now, if I don’t floss for a couple days, it feels straght-up gross.
