6 steps to flossing

6 Steps to Flossing

Not generally thought of as being as good as good as interdental brushing but it can be useful especially in gaps to small for interdental brushes.

1.  Ideally do this after brushing your teeth but otherwise use a small amount of toothpaste to swill around your mouth and mix with your saliva then spit out the excess
2. Start with a really long piece of floss, wrap the ends around one finger from each hand so you have a secure length about 10 - 15cm long.
3. Hold this tight and gently guide the floss down between the teeth.  You can use a gentle sawing motion to get past a tight contact between the teeth. and then pull each end so that the floss is hugging the tooth surface.
4. Move the floss up and down effectively wiping the surface of the tooth that the floss is wrapped around. Try and get the floss all the way down below the gum between the teeth and then wipe up.
5. Have a consistent starting point for example right at the very back on the top right, and then move methodically around each tooth in a circuit of the mouth round to the top left then bottom left around to the bottom right.  This way, you should get to every surface.
6. As you work your way round you can unwrap a little floss from the finger of one hand and wrap it around the other finger taking up the slack. This way, you use a clean bit of floss as you go.

Top Tips for Waterflossing

• When you first start, use warm water and a low power setting as it can be a little sensitive otherwise.
• Do this by feel with your mouth shut as otherwise you will make a mess
• Use a consistent circuit around the mouth to make sure you get everywhere.
• Aiming the water jet between the teeth try and move it around at lots of different angles as the contours between the teeth are complicated and the water only jets out in a straight line