I can't floss!

Message

#16 Post by **joney** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:20 am

I was braced on Friday and can only floss between a few teeth, the floss would literally tear if I tried to place it between some of my teeth. However my teeth are so crowded that I have always had this problem and I look forward to the day that I will be able to floss easilly between my teeth. In the meantime I just do the best I can with the little brushes, what more can you do really?

Regards
Joney

#17 Post by **ghostmyimag3** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:52 am

Yeah they tore several strands trying to floss between my molar brackets and yet still its impossible. I have 3 areas in my mouth that are measuring a 5 on that perio test. That is why i'm very concerned. I tried the satin tape on a few teeth with success, its mainly my front bottom teeth and my two front teeth that are not accessible at this time at all. The others are just way to sore still. Its really scary to think of what is trapped in between your teeth. I have many fillings, and i dont want more

#18 Post by **Delag** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:19 pm

Some of my teeth are so tight i can't even get the threader through themÂ¨Â¨(quote)

Just to make sure....you use the threader to get the floss under the wire, then you grab the ends of the floss and use like normal. At first I thought I had to put the whole threader through my teeth and couldn't figure it out how it would ever fit

#19 Post by **ghostmyimag3** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:35 pm

Thats what i've started doing that way if the tooth is way too sore i dont have to pull it out at the gum.

#20 Post by **cowlypso** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:11 pm

Just to make sure....you use the threader to get the floss under the wire, then you grab the ends of the floss and use like normal. At first I thought I had to put the whole threader through my teeth and couldn't figure it out how it would ever fit

Haha... I've been sitting here reading about the oral care and threaders and such, wondering what on earth they look like, and how the heck they're supposed to go between my teeth. I have enough trouble getting normal skinny floss between my teeth with my tight contacts. I just couldn't imagine how this thing called a threader worked, other than it must be like a needle and thread that you had to jam all the way through between your teeth! I'm really glad that got cleared up before I got my braces and made a fool of myself (although hopefully the ortho would have at least explained some of this stuff...).

#21 Post by **Delag** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 9:06 pm

Ha Ha Ha - Guess I have been doing it wrong after all

I have to say pulling it though looks more pain inducing than my way.

#22 Post by **Joel-** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:34 pm

I just flossed for the first time in several days ... I don't even have a full set of brackets, only 8 on my upper teeth, but it is still such a chore to floss.

I guess I'll try to floss every 2nd day but it's too much work to do every day

#23 Post by **bip** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:07 am

Ghost i have the same problem with them being too crowded for the threader stuff and like others here I have found that the oral b satin works great. I used it before i got braces anyway for the same reason (teeth so crowded other stuff got stuck and caused bleeding, etc) so I happened to have some on hand on bday. For me it took about 3 or 4 days for the pain while flossing to go away. It does get easier and quicker with the whole process. The first night I bet it took me a good 10 minutes to fully floss and now i've probably cut that in half.

#24 Post by **Delag** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:03 pm

My favorite floss is the Glide Comfort Floss - comes in the little green package. It is much more gentle on the gums than the regular Glide....a little off topic but thought I would throw it in the mix

#25 Post by **rmwolf83** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:32 pm

Ha Ha Ha - Guess I have been doing it wrong after all I have to say pulling it though looks more pain inducing than my way.

Hey Delag, my ortho's assistant actually showed me, in my mouth, how to floss after I got my wires. And she used the threader and a piece of floss and only threaded under the archwire, then flossed like normal. I think all of these threader things were originally marketed towards people with bridgework, thus the reason why the picture shows the threader going under teeth that appear to be connected.

I personally prefer to use my Glide mint flavored floss and a threader. I tried the different flosses with the stiff end on them, and just didn't care for them that much. Even with those, I used the end to thread the floss around my wire and then flossed like normal. I tried pushing it through between my teeth at the gum line and it felt like it was cutting up my gums, so I nixed that pretty quickly.

Do what works for you, I definitely don't think you were doing anything wrong in the way you were doing it!

Take care everyone!

~Rachel~

#26 Post by **ghostmyimag3** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:16 pm

To update this, i can floss between every tooth except 4 now. YAY! I don't use those threaders, i got me some of that oral b super floss, it has the threader, some kinda sponge like stuff and floss.

#27 Post by **Dovechild20** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:52 pm

have this problem, in between some teeth, its SO tight that my poor floss just breaks apart and then i spend the next 5 minutes trying to dig out all the pieces of floss, lol. I hope it gets better tho soon, lol

#28 Post by **SecondTimer** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:36 pm

I tried the super floss and had a problem with my brackets tearing the spongy part up leaving 'fuzz' around the bracket. This fuzz, subsequently stains temporarily when I rinse with mouthwash. If you're going to use the super floss, take care not to drag it against the bracket when you're pulling the floss through.

#29 Post by **ghostmyimag3** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:39 am

I'm not forcing any floss in between my teeth, i just try it nightly to see if i can get it through. I have two molar bands on my right i can't floss yet. I use different floss now well as of last night anyway, whatever will go through my tooth basically i have several kinds now but whatever it works i use it.

I find that the satin tape will go between my back teeth. and the super floss goes in my front teeth.