I know flossing helps. How can I do it well?

We know that flossing helps to maintain a healthy mouth, but some of us worry we may do it wrong, or we’re just not certain we’re getting it right. Dental hygienist Sarah Henry at SpaDental Glastonbury has put together useful tips to help us with daily flossing.

Expert advice so your time spent flossing helps keep your whole mouth healthy

Dental hygienist Sarah Henry offers valuable advice on how to clean between your teeth with dental floss. While Sarah believes that flossing helps, she emphasises:

“Patients should attend regular appointments with dentists and hygienists so that their home care is regularly reviewed and advice on oral hygiene aids can be tailored to their individual needs.”

Since qualifying from Birmingham Dental Hospital, Sarah Henry has gained considerable experience in the field of oral hygiene. Sarah is one of the SpaDental Glastonbury team.

Sarah’s top tips for effective flossing

Why do we need to floss?

• The tooth surface that is inaccessible with a brush requires some form of interdental cleaning on a daily basis.
• The use of interdental aids allows for the removal of food debris from between the teeth. Even more importantly, interdental cleaning disturbs the layer of bacteria continually forming on the surface of the teeth as dental plaque.
• Disturbing the bacteria helps keep gums and teeth healthy which is not only important for our mouths, but also for our general health.

How do we do it well?

It can be tricky to master the correct use of dental floss. Here are a few tips to help first timers, and reminders for regular users:

Getting ready

• Always use a wall or shaving mirror when using floss. A mirror image is not always easy to work with initially, but it helps if you can see what you are doing, as well as feel the action. It will lead to a much better result.
• Wear glasses if you normally need them for close work.
• Use a length of dental floss about 45cm (18 inches) long.
• Wrap enough dental floss around the middle finger of one hand to allow you to gently pull on the floss without it coming unwrapped.
• Wrap the remainder of the dental floss around the middle finger of the other hand leaving 1-2 inches of dental floss between your fingers.
• Tuck all your fingers, except your index fingers, into the palm of your hands.
• Use your index fingertips to manipulate the floss, placing these fingertips on the floss.

Starting right

• When learning to use the dental floss, start between your lower front teeth.
• Use the fingertip of one of your index fingers to take the floss into the mouth behind the front teeth and the other fingertip to hold the floss in the mouth on the lip side of the teeth so that the floss is above the space between a pair of teeth.
• Keep the floss taut and gently tease the floss between the teeth. Gently move it back and forwards into the space.
• You will probably feel the dental floss passing through a point where you meet some resistance where the teeth touch each other. This is called the contact point.
• When the floss is between the teeth and below the contact point, wrap the floss around one of the teeth making a C shape with the floss and then move the floss up and down the tooth surface.
• Be sure to maintain contact with the tooth surface at all times and use the floss up to the contact point and down to the gum margins taking the floss into a naturally occurring crevice between the gums and teeth
• To remove the dental floss, keep it taut and tease it out from between your teeth.

And then keep on going

• As you work around your mouth, use a new section of your floss by unwrapping it from one finger onto the other.
• Be patient with yourself!
• Like any new skill, easy and effective use of floss can take a while to master.
• Try to floss your teeth at the same time every day. Before you brush your teeth last thing at night is a popular time and helps to establish the habit.
• If you’re new to flossing, start with just a few teeth. Build up the number of teeth you floss as you find it easier until you are flossing between all your teeth.
• Experienced flossers work methodically around all the spaces between teeth.

Sarah’s final tip:

• Remember to floss the tooth surface on either side of a gap and to floss the back of the last four teeth furthest back in your mouth!

Further reading about oral health:

• Our answers to questions patients ask about gum disease.
• It’s never too late to stop smoking – practical advice.
• Are dental x-rays safe?
• External link to the Oral Health Foundation.

Useful Links & Information