Dental experts recommend brushing your teeth twice daily and flossing once daily. The bad news? While most people take the former seriously, they often ignore the latter, which isn’t a good move. Flossing is an essential oral hygiene habit that involves cleaning and dislodging food particles between the teeth. By doing so, you reduce the number of bacteria harbored between your teeth and, as a result, evade potential oral health issues. Our dentists at Dental On Wellesley always advise combining flossing with general dentistry procedures to ensure you have a healthy mouth.
In this article, we discuss the benefits of flossing daily and offer tips on how to make it a regular part of your dental routine.
Plaque is a sticky film that adheres to your teeth and along the gum line. While it is hard to spot plaque, leaving it to accumulate in your mouth could have adverse health consequences. Plaque forms when the bacteria in your mouth interact with sugary foods and release acids responsible for carbohydrate breakdown. Failure to brush your teeth can cause the acids, bacteria and carbohydrates to mix and form plaque. The bacteria in plaque can produce acids that damage the tooth enamel, and if you do not brush or floss, this could result in cavities.
What’s more? Plaque build-up could harden and form tartar–a hard deposit that coats the teeth. Tartar increases your risk of suffering from gum disease, according to the Canadian Dental Association.
Regular flossing helps get rid of food debris and plaque around your teeth.
Tooth decay can cause tiny holes to form in the enamel of your teeth. While this is a gradual process, more plaque accumulation on your teeth heightens the risk of developing cavities. To counter this, practice daily flossing. Doing so helps remove food particles hidden between your teeth and prevents plaque build-up, lowering your susceptibility to tooth decay.
The onset of gum disease is often characterized by gingivitis, whose signs include inflammation around the gums. Another sign to look out for is bleeding gums during brushing of teeth. Left untreated, gingivitis could advance to a more menacing infection called periodontitis. Periodontitis causes gum recession, and as a result, your teeth lose bone support and loosen. If the disease isn’t detected and dealt with, it could progress and cause an inflammatory response throughout the body.
This is why dentists recommend flossing once daily to keep gum disease at bay. You can combine this with biannual visits to the dentist for a healthy and shiny smile. Discover more about Treatment for Receding Gums
Over four million Canadians suffer from chronic halitosis–a condition characterized by persistent bad breath. Flossing is one tool you can use to fight this condition. Food lodged between your teeth could decay and cause your breath to smell. In addition, plaque build-up could erode the enamel, causing gum disease and cavities, which are also huge contributors to foul smell.
As you might already know, flossing is a form of oral preventative care. When your teeth are properly taken care of, you prevent any existing conditions from progressing. As a result, you save yourself the torture of spending potentially huge sums of money on costly procedures.
We understand how hard it can be to formulate and stick to a flossing technique. However, it doesn’t have to be hard, as there are several ways to make it a part of your oral hygiene routine and maybe have fun while at it!
Once you’ve established the ideal time for flossing, create an alarm and set it to repeat every day. Alternatively, you can create visual reminders like sticky notes and place them strategically in your bathroom.
When you can barely find time to floss at home, you can do so in other places. For instance, if you have stashed floss in your purse, you can floss at work or when walking home.
When you view flossing as a task, you will always look for excuses to avoid it. This is why it’d help to reward yourself whenever you achieve your flossing goals.
Underlying issues could make your flossing experience unpleasant. Therefore, if you find that sore gums, for instance, are making flossing hard, see our dentist at Dental On Wellesley before you can embark on the practice again.
From eliminating plaque and bad breath to preventing gum disease and ensuring general body wellness, flossing plays an unparalleled role in ensuring good general health. Combined with general dentistry procedures like oral exams and professional cleanings, the practice will ensure you do not frequent the dentist’s office to seek treatment for advanced dental issues. If you are in Toronto and want to know more about oral hygiene best practices, our dentist at Dental On Wellesley is always available for you. We offer emergency, and general dentistry services in a calm and relaxed environment. And also, offer cosmetic dental services at King West Dental Studio
Dr. Sobhi has been practicing dentistry for over 14 years. She and her team of experienced dental professionals love helping patients achieve their healthiest and most beautiful smiles possible.
Yonge and Wellesley Dental proudly provide comprehensive dental care in Yonge and Eglinton. Our beautiful and modern office has the latest in dental technology which assists us in providing our patients with the best care possible.
For more information, You can find us in DENTAL STUDIO ON WELLESLEY to schedule an appointment in our office, schedule an appointment online, or give us a call at 1.416.858.4949
Are you perplexed about the dental treatment you need? Or you are concerned about which dental clinic is the right option for your dental treatment? Don’t worry we have the best dentists in town with high-tech services. For your convenience, we have multiple dental offices at different locations. Let us know your location and queries we will guide you to your nearest dental office. The location of the dental offices is as follows:
10 Wellesley St E,
Toronto, ON M4Y 3B2
