Helpful Hygiene Tips: Floss

I've decided to start posting a few helpful hints about dental hygiene because, well, its just not done enough. Its amazing to me how many of my friends and family leave the dentist with very little information! So, i though i might share some from time to time! For those of you who dont know me personally, I am a dental hygienist. I have been for the last 8 years and the previous 5 years i spent as a dental assistant while going to school. I love helping people achieve a healthy smile and be proud to enjoy life without being self conscious of their teeth :-)

I'm completely open to questions, so feel free to post them and I'll answer them on the blog for us all to learn from one another :-) And dont worry, if you'd prefer that I not mention who asked the question, just say so!

SO... my first tip (this will be a shocker, i know, to everyone! HA!):

FLOSS is important! Everyone knows this, but most people just dont do it. Well, everyone except for my in-laws and cousin Tracy's family. They're some hardcore flossers! (hope you dont mind me bragging on you, family!).

Here's the problem: most people get in a hurry or just forget to floss because its not a part of the daily discipline of their life. Its not a habit!

So, how do we correct that?

First, leave your floss out on your cabinet! For any ocd clean freaks like me, this will be a difficult task for you because you want everything neatly tucked away in a drawer. But for most "normal" people, this is not a big deal. If anything, you may be thinking "it'll be lost in the clutter if its on the cabinet!". If so, no worries. The point is, put it somewhere that you will see it. Daily.

Second, floss BEFORE you brush. This is easily the most frequently given advice that I share with my patients. The reasoning is simple: if you floss first, your teeth still feel dirty enough that theres no way that most people will skip brushing. But if you brush first, you feel clean enough. A secondary benefit is that without the plaque filling the areas between your teeth, the fluoride from your toothpaste can reach these areas!

And seeing as how studies show that flossing adds 2-3 years to your life, its an easy way to try to improve your health and live to celebrate a golden anniversary with your spouse. (Well, lets face it, theres no amount of floss that will lengthen a marriage, but it can help to ensure that youre ALIVE to celebrate if you choose to stay married! HA!).

So, why not give it a try? Grab your 4 year old pack of floss out of the back of the drawer, dust it off and give it a go! Sure, your gums will throb tonight, and possibly for the next 12-24 hours, but if you keep it up, they will be as healthy as they can be in 7-10 days.

Stay posted on WHY it takes 7-10 days and WHY you SHOULD stick with it.

I'm expecting lots of people checking in on my blog b/c of these posts, now. YEAH RIGHT! :-) But you never know what little tidbit you may enjoy reading about! So, heres to flossing!