Dentistry

For Your Whole Family

Dentistry

For Your Whole Family

Facts-About-Flossing-Palmyra-Family-Dentistry-1-5dc0435b85462

Facts About Flossing

When it comes to dental care, flossing is often the form of care that gets looked over. While it can be time-consuming and lead to sensitive gums, flossing is absolutely something that you need to be doing on a regular basis. Whether you’re someone that often skips over flossing or you floss every now and again but realize you could do better, today’s blog is for you! The team at Palmyra Family and Cosmetic Dentistry is going to go over a few fun tips to teach you more about flossing. Let’s dive right in. 

Fact #1: Flossing Helps with Bad Breath

A common fear for a majority of us is bad breath. What if we told you that flossing could be one of the things that you can do to help reduce the chances of bad breath? Well, the truth is that flossing does help with bad breath! Flossing helps to remove any food that gets stuck in those hard-to-reach places. When food sticks around in these areas, it leads to a buildup of plaque, which is one of the biggest culprits of bad breath. 

By flossing and removing food stuck in these places, you reduce the chances of plaque building up, thus, reducing the chances of bad breath.

Fact #2: Brushing Only Cleans 70% of Your Mouth

Brushing is something that we all do pretty regularly, some of us more than others. While brushing is a huge part of maintaining your oral hygiene, it isn’t doing quite as much as you think. Brushing really only cleans about 70% of the surface area of your teeth, leaving 30% of your teeth completely uncleaned. More often than not, these spaces are going to be the areas in between your teeth, the very back of your mouth, and the tops of your gums. 

To clean these parts of your mouth, you need to be flossing regularly. When you include both flossing and brushing in your oral hygiene routine, you wind up with a mouth that is 100% clean!

Fact #3: You Need 18 to 20 Inches of Floss

Believe it or not, there’s actually a good amount of floss that you want to be using pretty regularly. In order to really get in between your teeth and all the way to your gums, you want to have roughly 18 to 20 inches of floss. As you floss, you want to have enough to get to these hard-to-reach places, but also to move around so that you can get around the top of your tooth. This number gives you enough floss to firmly grasp while also being able to have some wiggle room. 

Visit Your Local Dentist

Flossing contributes a significant amount to your oral hygiene and dental care. Whether you’re struggling to floss regularly, feel that you aren’t seeing the benefits of flossing, or you have other dental issues that you need some guidance with, reach out to our team. We strive to provide all of our patients with the resources they need to have a happy and healthy smile. 

Contact our office in Palmyra if you’d like to schedule an appointment with the team at Palmyra Family and Cosmetic Dentistry, and we will get you taken care of.