TGIF #2 : How To Floss Like A Boss

Welcome to The Best Beauty Blog’s TGIF series – which stands for “Teeth, Gums – It’s Friday!”  Cheesy, huh?  Anyway, this series is meant to inform and educate you all on dental health.  Please note that I am not trying to be patronising, but merely entertaining with my sarcastic humour in these posts.  I mean, seriously, who wants to read a boring dental manual, so I’ve injected it with my humour.

Last week, I covered the topic on how to brush your teeth properly and I got a lot of amazing feedback from everyone so cheers my dears for the support!  Today, I’m going to be the Flossing Fairy and show you all how to floss properly.  I’m talking about dental floss; not fairy floss nor pork floss – although they both taste yummy…

Why Is It Important To Floss?

Sometimes I think people would be smart enough to figure this out, but…erm…see, you know how we eat food every day?  Pieces of food can get stuck in-between your teeth or get trapped in your gums.  If this is not removed regularly, then welcome to the Land of Gum Disease – it starts off with a visit to Gingivitis and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to return back to normal healthy gums…but if you don’t follow the rules, then you’re in the Land of No Return…Periodontitis!!!!

Okay, Fine!  Pass Me The Freakin’ Floss!

Unfortunately, flossing is technique-sensitive.  It means you cannot just do it casually in any old manner.  But once you adopt the technique and frequently floss, it’s a breeze!  There are 2 brands of floss I like and they are – Colgate Total and Oral-B Satin Floss (I was not paid to say that…although I wish I was getting paid for it!).

So I had to do a video…but unfortunately, I ran out of battery before I could show you other types of floss, e.g. Superfloss and Floss Picks…so I will save that for another post at a later date.  And be warned, the art of flossing is a non-flattering look – do it in the privacy of your own bathroom; not in the back garden like me because it, somehow, attracts flies!!!

Should I Floss Before Or After Toothbrushing?

This is similar to the “Should I brush my teeth before or after breakfast?” question (which I answered last week) because every dentist will give a different answer.

The periodontal specialist who taught me advised flossing AFTER brushing because if you do it before, you may partially remove food particles and brush it back into your gums.

And I largely follow this rule…but sometimes, I will floss before brushing, e.g. after eating steak when gums are screaming at me to floss.

9 Flossing Facts To Remember

1.  Tempting as it seems, do not use non-dental-floss material to floss between your teeth.  My Mum used to floss with normal thread and sometimes strands of hair…and she lost all her back teeth before she was even 45-years-old, due to gum trauma and gum disease!  You have been warned!!!

2.  Your gums may bleed at first, but it should improve.  Do not saw floss back and forth into gums!!!

3.  It takes time at first to perfect the technique, but once you nail it, it takes 2-3 minutes max…and at that time, you will get satisfaction when you see bits of meat hanging off the floss.  It’s like “Ooh, found something!”

4.  Do NOT be stingy and reuse the same piece of floss.  You’re just spreading the bacteria!

5.  Your fingers might smell disgusting…because the stuff on the floss will contaminate your fingers when you’re moving the floss along.

6.  You only need to floss once a day, but if you’re a flossing fanatic, then go ahead.

7.  I have patients who say that they can’t floss because their teeth are “too crooked” or “too close together” –  You are most likely a crappy floss.  Try dental tape or the Colgate floss I recommended.

8.  If you have braces, you will need Superfloss (I will do a tutorial on that later)

9.  You will be advised to floss EVERY day.  It’s like brushing your teeth.  EVERY day!  Floss every evening after brushing.  (But sometimes I get lazy…but I do floss a minimum of 5 times a week!)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  What dental stuff do you want to know about next week?

Disclaimer : The information on this blog post is intended to be funny, yet educational.  It is a general overview of a variety of topics associated with dental health.  This does not in any way imply a doctor-patient relationship.  The content is not intended to take the place of an examination or consultation with your dentist or other healthcare professionals.  No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents you read here.  If in doubt, seek your own dentist for professional advice.