Step by Step guides: how to floss your teeth properly, how to floss your teeth with braces and how to use other interdental cleaners like picks, brushes and water flossers.

HOW TO FLOSS TEETH PROPERLY – Step by Step

Flossing

  1. Wash your hands.
  2. Remove about 18 inches of floss from its container. Why that much floss? Because you are going to move to a new, clean section of floss as you floss between each set of teeth throughout your mouth.
  3. Wrap most of the floss around the index or middle finger (whichever is more comfortable for you) of one hand and a small amount wrapped around the same finger on the other hand. Leave about two inches of floss suspended between the two fingers you wrapped with floss.
  4. Point both fingers toward your mouth, now move the floss inside your mouth. Place one finger on the tongue/palate side of the teeth and one finger on the cheek/lip side of the teeth. Next, gently press the floss between two of your teeth until the floss passes between the teeth and you reach your gum line. Do not use so much force that the floss is thrust into the gum tissue after popping it between the teeth. This will hurt you, will not do any good and make you not want to floss anymore.
  5. Pull the floss around one of the teeth, wrapping it around the side of the tooth in a C shape. Maintain contact of the floss with the tooth as you gently move the floss right to left while also moving up and down the side of the tooth. This is flossing.
  6. Floss slightly below the gum line until you feel resistance, then stop. Again, do not press so hard or floss so fast that flossing hurts and/or cuts your gum tissue but by all means, move the floss below the gumline. It is important to not neglect this area because harmful bacteria resides there. If your gums bleed while doing this, don’t stop flossing. Plaque makes the gum infection that causes this bleeding worse. You need to remove it. If daily flossing does not stop the bleeding in one week, tell your dentist.
  7. Move the floss over and wrap the floss in a C-shape around the side of the adjacent tooth. Repeat the right to left, top to bottom rubbing of the tooth surface with the floss. When you finish, lift the floss up and out of the space between those two teeth.
  8. Unwind a fresh section of floss from the finger of one hand, then wind the used floss onto the other. This will give you a fresh section of floss to use and prevent you from transferring plaque and debris from one tooth to another.
  9. Repeat steps 4 – 8 until all the spaces between all of your teeth have been flossed. Now you have flossed!

This method works with any kind of floss or dental tape. And you can start anywhere, upper or lower, front or back teeth. Be careful to floss each one of your teeth, especially the back side of the teeth at the very back of your mouth.

The more you floss, the faster you will become and as you become accustomed to the clean feeling flossing gives you, the more you will appreciate it. Flossing is a good habit to develop.

For a short demonstration, please check out this YouTube video clip on flossing. It’s 51 seconds long.:

HOW TO FLOSS TEETH PROPERLY WHEN YOU WEAR BRACES OR FIXED RETAINERS – Step by Step
 

Flossing with Braces

People who wear braces and fixed are at increased risk of tooth decay and gum disease because food particles become trapped in the bands and wires they wear.In addition, the cement used for bonding the braces and retainers to their teeth increases the risk of tartar (calculus) build up where the food particles are trapped. Flossing around braces and fixed retainers takes more time than flossing otherwise, but it is well worth it. Proxabrushes and waxed string floss with floss threaders, combined with water flossing is ideal to floss between braces and fixed retainers. Here are the step by step directions:

  1. Wash your hands.
  2. Gently use a small Proxabrush in an up and down motion to brush between the archwire of braces and the teeth then rinse your mouth with water or mouthwash.
  3. Remove about 18 inches of floss from its container. Why that much floss? Because you are going to move to a new, clean section of floss each time you floss between two teeth.
  4. Slide a floss threader through the area between the necks of two teeth from the cheek/lip side to the tongue/palate side of the teeth. Insert floss through the floss threaders loop. Grasp the floss threader and pull the floss through so you have a few inches of floss on both sides.
  5. Wrap most of the floss around the index or middle finger (whichever is more comfortable for you) of one hand and a small amount wrapped around the same finger on the other hand. Leave about two inches of floss suspended between the two fingers you wrapped with floss.
  6. Pull the floss around one of the teeth, wrapping it around the side of the tooth in a C shape. Maintain contact of the floss with the tooth as you gently move the floss right to left (on back teeth) or front to back (on front teeth) while also moving up and down the side of the tooth. This is flossing.
  7. Floss slightly below the gum line until you feel resistance, then stop. Do not press so hard and floss so fast that flossing hurts and/or cuts your gum tissue but by all means, floss below the gumline. It is important not neglect this because harmful plaque resides there. If your gums bleed while doing this don’t stop flossing. Removing the plaque that causes this bleeding is beneficial and it needs to be done. If daily flossing does not stop the bleeding when you floss after one week, tell your dentist.
  8. Move the floss over and wrap the floss in a C-shape around the adjacent tooth surface and repeat the right to left, top to bottom rubbing of the tooth surface with the floss. When you finish, pull the floss out from between the teeth.
  9. Take a fresh section of floss and place it through the floss threader. This will prevent you from transferring plaque and debris from between one set of teeth to another.
  10. Repeat steps 4 –9 until all the spaces between all of your teeth have been flossed.
  11. Use a stream of water from your water flosser or mouthwash, between each tooth to wash away remaining plaque and debris. Now you have flossed!

The more you do this, the faster you will become and as you become accustomed to the clean feeling flossing gives you, the more you will appreciate it. Flossing is a good habit to develop.

HOW TO PROPERLY USE THE FOLLOWING INTERDENTAL CLEANERS

Sulcabrushes®

Sulcabrush

Sulcabrushes have one or two small brush tips on the ends of a handle. When there are two brushes, one end is for the tongue/palate of the mouth and the other is for the outside of the lip/cheek side of the teeth.

Use the sulcabrush in the following manner:

  1. Brush around the necks of each tooth.
  2. Work the brush between the teeth and under the gums as thoroughly as possible.
  3. Brush each tooth on the lip/cheek side and also on the tongue/palate side.

Sulcabrushes are re-usable. Rinse after using them and replace them every 3 months.

Proxabushes®

Proxabrush

Proxabrushes have one end. Some are shaped like a Christmas Tree and others are straight. They are available in different diameters.

Proxabrushes are in the following manner:

  1. Work the proxabrush back and forth to clean thoroughly between each set of teeth on the lip/cheek side.
  2. Work the proxabrush back and forth to clean thoroughly between each set of teeth on the tongue/palate side.

Proxabrushes may be bent to fit in various spaces and are reusable until the metal holding the bristles fatigues and becomes unuable. Rinse before re-capping them.

Soft Picks – Advanced®

Soft Picks

Soft picks are plastic picks with soft plastic bristles. The Soft Pick Advanced® is curved to more easily fit between the teeth on the lip/cheek side of teeth and the tongue/palate side as well.

Use SoftPicks in the following manner:

  1. Insert the Soft Pick between the teeth then work it back and forth between each set of teeth from the lip/cheek side moving it through to the tongue/palate side, cleaning thoroughly.
  2. Insert the Soft Pick between the teeth on the tongue/palate side then work it between the teeth, back and forth cleaning thoroughly between each set of teeth.

Soft Picks will deform and are usually single use

The Doctor’s Brush Picks®

Brush Picks

The Doctor’s Brush Picks® are small, plastic sticks with a brush on one end and a pointed scraper on the opposite end. They are useful for difficult to reach areas and tight spaces.

Use The Doctor’s Brush Picks® in the following manner:

  1. Insert brush between the teeth then rotate and slide it back and forth on the lip/cheek side.
  2. Insert brush between the teeth then rotate and slide it back and forth on the tongue/ palate side.
  3. Use the pointed scraper to clean between tight spaces.

The Doctor’s Brush Picks® will deform and are usually single use.

Water Flossers

Water Flosser

Water flossers, like WaterPik® are very effective at flushing plaque and food particles out of the pockets of gum tissue around the teeth and also loosened food particles from between the teeth.

Use water flossers in the following manner:

  1. Keep your head over your sink so the water will flow into it and not elsewhere.
  2. Start using a low pressure setting and gradually work up to a higher pressure setting.
  3. Direct the nozzle horizontally, not vertically, toward the neck of the teeth, where the teeth and gums meet.
  4. Trace the collar of gum tissue around each upper and lower tooth.

I hope this has been helpful. Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Yours In Health,
Sharon Albright, D.D.S.