The Surprising Thing You Should Know About Flossing

floss on a blue background

We’ve all wondered how often we really need to wash our hair, or which household items you’re probably not cleaning often enough. But today, we’re tackling another aspect of staying spic-and-span: Why is flossing so important, and how should we do it correctly? We turned to Kareen Wilson, an Oral-B Smile Council member and a registered dental hygienist. Rule number one? Wilson weighed in on those much discussed “hard-to-reach areas,” the proper technique that so few people follow, and more.


Why is flossing so important?

It’s amazing how effective flossing can be in helping overall health. It’s something that everybody should think about incorporating into their overall health regimen.

If the build-up on your teeth is not removed on a regular basis, it can lead to gingivitis and gum disease. If you’re not flossing, you’re not getting to one-third of the tooth, which is made up of tooth surfaces between the teeth. And that plaque will stay there for a long period of time. So it is something that is very very important.

What’s one thing about flossing that more people should know?

It’s something connected to their overall health. Flossing can help to prevent things like gum disease and tooth decay, but you have to realize that it can actually affect everything.

By flossing, you’re not only protecting your oral health, but you’re helping reduce the risk of heart disease and all kinds of other diseases that can arise from not flossing. Why? When you’re not flossing, you might develop periodontal disease. It’s also known as gum disease, and it’s an inflammatory response that happens within your mouth. The bacteria that gets left behind causes inflammation and soreness, which can translate to inflammation in other parts of your body.

How often should people be flossing?

You should be flossing every day. You have to realize that when plaque is left on the surface of your teeth, within just 48 hours, it can actually turn into tartar, which is a hard substance that you need to have professionally removed. If you’re not flossing on a regular basis, you’re going to start having issues.

Could you explain the proper way to floss?

What I want to stress is that especially with what’s going on with Covid, you want to make sure that your hands are clean first. Your hands are going to be in your mouth, after all.

A lot of times people don’t realize this, but there is actually a preferred technique for flossing. You’re going to need probably about 18 inches of floss. You’re going to wind it around your middle finger or your index finger, whichever is easiest for you.

You want it nice and tight, then you’re going to use a very gentle motion and slide down in between the teeth. Once you’ve got the floss in between your teeth, you’re going to try to pull the floss as tight around the surface of the tooth as you can, almost in a ‘C’ shape.

Now, this is the area that I would like a lot of people to understand. It’s a slide motion, up and down the length of the teeth. It’s not a back and forth. You should be sliding all the way up to the top edge of the tooth and all the way back down underneath the gum line.

Once you’re done, you’re going to unwind that floss again, so you’re always starting with a nice clean section of floss for each tooth.

Are there any unexpected places that food gets stuck in your mouth  —  areas that are especially tricky to get at?

A lot of times people forget the back of their very back teeth. I know it’s a little tricky to get all the way back there, but those areas tend to harbor a lot more plaque. Then make sure you floss both sides of the tooth. As you’re moving on from one tooth to the next, you just want to make sure you’re getting both the front and back surfaces.

I tell my patients to use what they feel most comfortable with. So dentists and hygienists right now recommend Oral B floss more than any other brand. And I particularly liked the Oral-B Glide floss because it is so much going on between your teeth, and it slides up to 50 percent easier when you have really tight teeth. One of the things that I hear from a lot of my patients is that they just can’t get it in there, it’s too tight. If you use the Oral-B Glide, it’s a lot easier to slide in between the teeth. And then as far as floss sticks are concerned, they can be effective. If you’re on the go and you just need something, you know you’re in your car or you’re by the TV, but the one thing is I do like to make sure that my patients have an oral routine that they’re doing on a regular basis.

Do you have any tips for people struggle to stick with a flossing routine?

Most of us know it’s something that we should be doing every day, but people still find it really challenging to get in there and do it as part of a routine. First of all, find the floss that works well for you, whatever the texture may be. Find a special place on your bathroom sink, and put it in a nice pretty bowl so you see it every day, and know it’s there. I always tell patients it’s kind of like exercise: I would rather you floss three, four, five times a week, than floss every day for two weeks and then forget about it.