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We know it can be difficult to get in the habit of flossing regularly. After all, your mouth can feel pretty fresh after just brushing, enough to fool you into thinking it’s totally clean and safe from tooth decay or gum disease. But flossing regularly is the only way to make sure you actually clean your teeth completely. Here are a few misconceptions we want to dispel to help motivate your flossing habits!
We know there are some people out there who only whip out the floss after eating popcorn or corn on the cob. Of course floss is great for removing the remnants of rogue kernels, but it’s not just large obvious bits of food you have to worry about. Floss also helps remove plaque that accumulates between your teeth, creating the risk for cavities even if you don’t have food stuck there. If you floss regularly, you already know how surprising it is the amount of stuff you can clean out from between your teeth even if you didn’t sink them into anything particularly messy that day.
There are plenty of adults who have yet to make a solid habit of flossing. In many cases, these adults still have all their teeth and haven’t had any problems with interproximal caries (tooth decay that happens between your teeth). But just because someone has gotten this far without feeling the need to floss doesn’t mean they shouldn’t start! For one thing, the early signs of dental disease such as gum disease (periodontitis) don’t have obvious symptoms. Bleeding gums is one of the first signs you may be developing gum disease, but even if you teeth don’t bleed when you brush that doesn’t mean you’re not at risk. Start flossing now and you still may have all your own teeth for the rest of your life!
This is a choice of words problem: Many people hear that your gums bleeding when you floss is common, and misunderstand that fact to mean that it’s normal. Yes, many people see blood when they floss, but no, it’s not normal. No matter what, that spot of red is telling you something about your oral health, specifically the health of your gums. If this is a problem you encounter every time you floss, talk to us about it so we can assess the issue and have a plan for preserving your health.
It’s always unfortunate when a tooth has decayed so much that it needs to be restored by a dentist, but there are many options to save your tooth! Dentists are experts at fixing both mild and severe cases of tooth decay, but sometimes they need more time to examine your tooth to find out which treatment is right for you.
Sometimes a dentist is faced with an unusually complicated case of tooth decay or other dental damage. At this point in the dental treatment process, it may be unclear if the tooth can be saved with a simple procedure or if it needs a major restoration. This usually happens when tooth decay reaches or is close to reaching the nerve at the center of the tooth.
A sedative filling is a temporary kind of filling that dentists use at this critical junction. It stabilizes a tooth where decay has been removed and allows us to examine how the tooth responds to treatment. A mixture of oil of clove and zinc oxide is used in these fillings, which stop the spread of tooth decay and disinfect the cavity. These ingredients also help “calm” your tooth by relieving discomfort and sensitivity in the nerve—hence the term “sedative”!
Proper home care is extremely important with sedative fillings. Because sedative fillings are meant to be temporary, they can fall out relatively easily if you aren’t careful. Avoid chewing food on the side of your mouth with the filling and make sure to brush & floss with a slow and gentle approach so you don’t dislodge the filling. If your sedative filling does come out, please call us right away.
So just how temporary are these fillings? A tooth with a sedative filling is normally observed for several weeks before the dentist moves onto the next step of your treatment. Every patient is different, and it may take more or less time to figure out how to proceed. It may seem like a long time to wait, but please understand that we want to choose the most conservative solution in order to preserve as much of your natural tooth as possible!
Sealants have long been a routine part of preventive dental care for children. Since at least the 1970s, sealants have been placed on children’s teeth in order to prevent cavities and decay.
The point of sealants is to prevent decay by making it impossible for cavity-causing bacteria to accumulate in the deep grooves on molars, which can be harder to clean. Sealants can be made from several tooth-colored materials: resin-based is the most common, followed closely by glass ionomer (GIC). The sealant material starts as a liquid and is cured (hardened) in place on the tooth. Sealants should be applied to the molars as soon as they come in, usually around age ten. Contrary to rumors, sealant materials don’t contain the chemical BPA and do no put children at risk of longterm BPA exposure.
Sealants can last as long as 5 years, and many last even longer, well into adulthood. Resin-based sealants are shown to last much longer than glass ionomer sealants, but glass ionomer sealants have the added benefit that they slowly release fluoride, which strengthens tooth enamel and can therefore help prevent decay. Sealants on permanent molars reduce cavities by over 80 percent.
Sealants are recommended for children who are a high risk of cavities, such as those who have yet to develop reliable oral hygiene habits. The American Dental Association actually recommends that all children or adolescents get sealants, regardless of a perceived higher risk of cavities. There is little reliable evidence of the effectiveness of sealants on preventing tooth decay in adults, so it is very rare for sealants to be applied to adults. That being said, many adults still have their sealants that they got as children, and as long as the sealant is present it should continue to be effective.
Flossing is an important part of any at-home oral hygiene routine. But it’s also a source of anxiety, pain, and even shame. Instead of dreading the inevitable “floss talk” from your dentist, try these tricks to get in the habit of flossing regularly. Your smile will thank you!
First, finding the right tools is essential. String floss is the oldest tool for flossing, but many find it cumbersome and simply uncomfortable. Patients who avoid string floss might complain about sticking their fingers in their mouth, not being able to reach their back teeth, or discomfort when wrapping the floss around their fingers. Such patients may find flossers to be the key to a good flossing routine.
Flossers are tools that allow you to extend your reach without wrapping floss around your fingers or sticking your fingers in your mouth. They are often one-handed tools, so if you like to multitask, you’ll be able to use your free hand for other tasks. There are a few options to consider when looking for a flosser, including the following:
The first two still use string floss, but the tool holds it so you don’t have to. Since you use the same portion of string repeatedly, it’s important to rinse it off after every tooth gap so you don’t just transfer any removed residue to other teeth.
The single-use flossers are great to stow in the car, desk drawer, or purse for when you’re not at home. Many patients have them on hand even if they use other flossing methods at home; you never know when the urge to floss will hit!
Water flossers are becoming a popular tool for at-home flossing because of how easy to use they are and how gentle they are on teeth and gums. This type of flosser uses a stream of water to remove plaque and food particles. Because you don’t need to guide string between your teeth, water flossers make it much easier to clean around braces or permanent bridges.
Once you have your preferred flossing tool, it’s time to establish that habit that will make not flossing feel as weird as flossing feels now.
Consistency is key in creating new habits. Here are a few ideas for staying consistent:
Even with a good routine, there will be times when you just don’t feel like flossing. Just remember why you do it: clean teeth mean a cleaner smile, better breath, and fewer trips to the dentist for costly procedures.
With these tips, we’re confident you’ll build good flossing habits. Let us know if these tips work for you, or if you used any others as well!
