4 Flossing Mistakes & How to Correct Them

Using dental floss seems like a pretty easy task at first. What blunders could you possibly make when moving a piece of string between teeth? However, the truth is that it’s quite easy to make floss-related faux pas if you don’t act carefully. Your Edmond dentist takes those errors seriously and wants to make sure you don’t commit any of them. With that said, here’s a primer on four common flossing mistakes and how best to correct them.

You Floss at the Wrong Time

Many patients think it doesn’t matter when they floss; so long as they do it once daily, that’s all that matters. Still, it’s possible to make your oral care less efficient by flossing at the wrong time.

In particular, you’re making a bad move if you only floss in the morning or afternoon. You’d be better off flossing before bed because your saliva levels decrease overnight. By using floss at night, you’d remove bacteria and other debris that a drier mouth can’t get rid of while you sleep.

You Only Floss After Brushing

Since brushing may look like the more crucial habit, perhaps you only floss after you’ve brushed your teeth. That’d be a major mistake that costs your oral health.

The reality of these facts is borne out by science. Within the last decade, studies have shown that flossing before brushing lowers the amount of plaque between teeth. That’s because the fluoride in toothpaste can better coat cleaned areas and provide better protection. So, do your best to floss between your teeth before brushing.

You Stay Above the Gum Line

A lot of folks stay above the gum line when they floss, especially when they’re in a hurry. Even so, this little quirk is an error you ought to correct.

Simply putting your floss between your teeth doesn’t clean your smile well. The string should be carried 2-3 millimeters below your gumline to remove harmful bacteria effectively. Your flossing habit won’t do much to protect you from gum disease otherwise. Instead, plaque will have a chance to build in your gums until it infects the pink mouth tissues.

You Stop When You See Blood

Since bleeding is almost always a bad thing, you may be tempted to stop flossing if you see blood. Don’t give into that impulse; doing so would be an oral health mistake.

You see, bleeding isn’t a sign that your floss has harmed your gums. It indicates that you haven’t been flossing enough; gum tissue often bleeds when inflamed or infected. Given these facts, you shouldn’t let the sight of blood deter your efforts. Stick with your flossing habit to ease inflammation and make your gums healthier!

Your smile will be much better once you correct these flossing mistakes. As for how else to improve your floss usage, just talk to your dental provider!

About the Practice

Bluff Creek Dental is based in Edmond, OK, with Dr. Patrick Crowley serving as head dentist. Our practice pursues comprehensive dentistry that combines efficient teamwork and the latest dental tools. As a result, we gladly offer preventive, cosmetic, and restorative treatments tailored to each patient’s unique smile. Our office is also a proud and certified provider of Invisalign clear aligners. For more details or to book a visit, please contact us on our website or by phone at (405)-751-5515.