top of page
Writer's pictureDentist friend Classics

Dental Flossing – Everything You Need to Know About It

Updated: Mar 11



Dental Flossing
Dental Flossing

Flossing is an essential habit to maintain oral hygiene. It helps clean and dislodge the food particles stuck between teeth and on your gums. Most people think brushing their teeth is enough to keep them healthy and clean. Many do not know that flossing their teeth has numerous benefits and helps avoid serious dental problems such as gum disease or cavities. Keeping this in mind, the best dentist in Thakurpukur has come up with essential details related to flossing.


How Is Dental Flossing Different From Brushing?

Brushing helps you in cleaning the surface of the teeth. Flossing is vital to keep your teeth fully clean from materials stuck inside. This will assist in clearing out the small spaces between your teeth. These spaces increase bacterial growth if left alone, leading to teeth odour. Lack of flossing will likely cause in building up of plaque, which in turn can cause the formation of cavities, gum disease, and tooth decay. All you need to do is to brush and floss correctly to gain the best results.

Why Should Dental Flossing Be An Essential Part Of Your Life?

Following are the significant reasons why you need to floss your teeth along with brushing, to keep healthy teeth:

It helps in the prevention of infection

It is not widely known among people that flossing can help protect your teeth from germs that can cause infections that affect your gums. Whenever germs and bacteria accumulate on your teeth and gums, they can spread throughout your mouth and cause massive infections. If you have such conditions, one of the reasons might be a lack of flossing.

It helps protect your gums

Lack of flossing causes the building up of tartar in the gums, which can lead to gingivitis, which results from swollen gums, red in color. If these factors are left unchecked, the tartar, which contains bacteria and plaque, can spread throughout the mouth and even below the gum line. This can cause periodontitis, which is an acute form of gum disease. This is considered the primary stage of gum disease.

It helps prevent tooth loss

Every morning a layer of bacteria forms under your teeth, and you realize this after you wake up, as a bad smell follows it. This is also known as plaque. Building up of tartar and plaque under the gums might lead to gingivitis. This gingivitis can cause periodontal disease if left untreated, leading to tooth loss. Flossing helps remove that bacteria layer, which in turn, helps in reducing the chances of tooth loss and tooth decay.

It helps freshen your breath

If you floss your teeth regularly, you will have fresher breath since it will help you remove all the germs and bacteria in your teeth. Fresh breath helps you keep higher self-esteem, which will help you feel better about yourself and your day. 

It helps in preventing gum recession

Lack of flossing leads to gum diseases, which in turn, will lead your gums to start receding. This factor exposes your teeth and gums to bacteria. The teeth then begin to look longer and thinner, becoming more sensitive with time. This will create more spaces within your teeth, accumulating food particles, exposing the teeth more to bacteria, and making your teeth look bad.

It helps prevent indigestion and obesity

Your mouth contains many digestive enzymes, which help break down the food for better digestion in the stomach. The formation of germs and bacteria inside the mouth can lead to insufficient flow of such digestive enzymes, leading to food indigestion. Furthermore, lack of flossing has also been found to be one of the reasons for obesity in individuals.

It helps lessen the risks of stroke

In recent years, the heart's health has also been linked to oral health. It has been found that people who often encounter strokes face frequent tooth decay and gum diseases. So flossing will help keep your tooth healthier, which will help your heart stay healthy.

It helps in saving your money

Flossing and brushing help keep your teeth healthy, which in turn helps keep spending a lot of money on dental health in the long term. But, professional dental care has come a long way down the road and is highly advanced and effective in preventing tooth problems. Still, most dentists think that brushing and flossing regularly is the best option.

It helps in managing blood sugar levels

People that are suffering from non-communicable diseases like diabetes have been observed to often suffer from tooth decay and gum diseases. High blood sugar levels in a diabetic individual can strongly affect the entire body, which includes gums and teeth. A silver lining is that if you regularly floss and brush your teeth, your blood sugar levels will be much easier to manage.

It helps in managing arthritis

People that are suffering from arthritis tend to have more tooth and gum diseases than others. Furthermore, patients with arthritis are eight times more likely to develop teeth and gum diseases than people without arthritis. Hence, regular flossing and brushing of teeth are important in this case, as they will help keep conditions like arthritis at bay.

What Do Dentists Recommend?

Hence, it is evident from the information that flossing is important for your health and well-being. No wonder how good your brushing method is or how much oral rinse you make use of; there will always be some food particles that will be stuck between your teeth and also under your gums. Hence, most dentists recommend flossing at least once a day. The best time for flossing is after dinner, beyond which you are unlikely to consume any food. If you are really concerned about your gum and dental disease, which is bothering you, feel free to book an appointment with a dentist near you. Schedule your appointment with Dr Chatterjees Dental Clinic if you want top-quality dental care in Thakurpukur. We are fortunate to have the most reliable dentist in town who has eight years of experience in the field of dentistry. So, no matter what the issue is, consulting Dr. Chatterjee can be a wise choice to make.

5 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page