Brushing your teeth is not enough to maintain good oral health over time. Flossing should be a regular part of your oral hygiene routine as well.

Cleaning the spaces between your teeth and along your gums with dental floss is as important to your oral health as cleaning your teeth with a toothbrush. Just as how you brush your teeth every day, flossing should be part of your daily routine.Cleaning between your teeth may help prevent cavities and gum disease. Cleaning between your teeth helps remove a sticky film called plaque. Plaque contains bacteria that feeds on leftover food or sugar in your mouth. When that happens, it releases an acid that can eat away at the outer shell of your teeth and cause cavities.Plaque that is not removed by brushing and cleaning between your teeth can eventually harden into a rough substance called tartar (or calculus). Tartar collects along your gum line and can lead to gum disease. Once tartar forms, only your dental hygienist or dentist can remove it.As a result, flossing helps prevent gum or periodontal diseases, tooth decay, and bad breath.There are certain things to keep in mind to get the most out of flossing:• Use dental floss or an interdental cleaner every day.• Floss at least once a day.• Be gentle when using dental floss so you avoid damaging gum tissue.• If long threads of regular dental floss are too hard for you to hold, use a floss holder. 

A variety of dental cleaning productsDrug stores offer a mind-boggling variety of dental cleaning tools. These include:• Waxed dental floss;• Unwaxed dental floss;• Interdental cleaning aids, including picks and special sticks;• Oral irrigators, which use water to remove plaque caught between teeth;• Mouth rinses.Both waxed and unwaxed dental floss work well to clean the spaces between your teeth. If the spaces are tight, waxed floss may glide more easily between them. The bottom line is that flossing every day is more important to your oral health than which floss you choose. Any floss that slips easily between teeth without hurting and damaging the gums is the floss for you.A floss holder or other interdental cleaning tool may be helpful if you have trouble handling long pieces of floss due to arthritis, vision difficulties, or discomfort, but you must follow instructions or ask your dentist how to use them properly so you don’t hurt your gums.Oral irrigators can help remove food caught between your teeth, too, but they shouldn’t replace dental floss and tooth brushing. Likewise, most mouthwashes won’t do an effective job of keeping your mouth healthy on their own. Many are used simply to cover up breath odour, although some over-the-counter fluoride mouth rinses can help prevent decay, and some anti-gingivitis or anti-plaque mouth rinses can help fight periodontal diseases. 

Dr Sharon Robinson DDS has offices at the Dental Place Cosmetix Spa, located at Shop #5, Winchester Business Centre, 15 Hope Road, Kingston 10. Dr Robinson is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Technology, Jamaica, School of Oral Health Sciences. She may be contacted at 630-4710. Like their Facebook page, Dental Place Cosmetix Spa, for an opportunity to take advantage of weekly specials.