Metal Mouth Message Board

I hate flossing, it hurts... How important is it? I'd appreciate people even telling me what may happen if I don't, to scare me into it!!

Flossing is essential whether you have orthodontia or not. And once you get used to flossing every day, it won't hurt anymore. Keeping those areas clean means the gums can take care of themselves better and won't get sore. My ortho has a poster that says "You don't have to floss all your teeth, only the ones you want to keep". Believe me you can avoid lots of pain later by working through the little bit of soreness you have now. One dentist told me to think about it like you do when you miss a shower and just don't feel right. Just add it to your day.

As a person who is unlucky enough to be genetically prone to decay, let me assure you that flossing is absolutely essential. 90% or so of decay will happen between the teeth and around the gumline - ie, the areas that you floss. And if you DO get decay, it's not just a matter of filling it and leaving it. Fillings don't last forever. I am in the process of making about 50 thousand trips to the dentist to get ELEVEN fillings done and many of these are because old fillings have deteriorated over time (some of them are over 20 years old) and allowed decay to creep in around the edges. (And not to terrify you entirely, some of those eleven fillings are tiny decay spots that would simply be drilled away in a normal person, but I get them filled because of my history with decay.)

No one ever told me to floss until I was in my twenties, by which time I had a mouth full of fillings. Flossing does make a difference and I wish someone had stressed the importance a lot earlier. Even if you're not prone to decay, why take the risk? Think about how much you're spending to make your smile beautiful!

They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit - put a chart up on your bathroom mirror with 21 squares on it and cross them off every day - by the end of 21 days you'll have a new habit and flossing will probably be a lot more comfortable.

I can sympathize with you; I never thought I would be able to floss when I had braces. The first few times I tried after being braced took forever and a huge hassle. Flossing is really important when you have braces to ensure you get the bacteria and food particles out of your gum area.

Some suggestions I can offer, that helped me:

* Find the type of floss threaders that work best for you. Experiment with different types until you find the right brand / style. My ortho originally gave me as sample pack of some Oral B, flimsy thread-like flossers; they sucked! Then I found the Dentek hard plastic type and they worked great for me!

* Make time for flossing; if you can only floss once per day, do it at night when you are not in a rush to get on with your day. I used to floss 2 or 3 times per day, but initially I practiced flossing at night when I had more time.

* Invest in a Sonicare or similar electric toothbrush! I bought a Sonicare about 3 monhts into my treatment and it made a huge difference...no more staining under my archwires, much cleaner teeth, and healthier gums! My ortho always commented on what a great job I was doing brushing. This is not a substitute for flossing, but will help you with overall teeth / gum health during braces.

The good news is that flossing is one of those things that very few people do regularly (me included, prior to getting braced); but developing a good habit of flossing while you are braced will lead to a great post-braces habit (I still floss 2 times per day now, one year after my debanding).

Good luck, hang in there, and you will be flossing like a pro in no time.

I came to regular flossing in my late 20's, on the advice of a dentist who said that if I flossed regularly, I'd keep my teeth indefinitely. I'm still with that dentist.

Before that, I had some serious plaque problems. My gums were inflamed and they bled when I brushed. Not nice. For the price of a few minutes extra a day, I'd much rather have the healthy pink gums I've had for the past several decades.

You didn't mention how long you've been braced, or if you are experiencing a lot of movement and that is causing additional pain. I've been braced for 3 weeks, and sometimes if a particular tooth is really sore I'll skip it for a day or so until it feels better. The day I was braced, my ortho told me not to worry myself about flossing for the first few days, as it would be really painful. Sometimes a few teeth are too tight - I still can't floss between my bottom fronts!

Overall, flossing is really important, especially when your teeth aren't really straight. The way food gets lodged in there... I went to the dentist last year for the first time in 7 years and had 11 NEW cavities, all because I never flossed. Ever since, I've been paranoid and floss every single night. So yes, it's a pain in the neck (and teeth and gums ) but it's worth it! Besides, just think about once the braces are gone how quickly you can do it!

Once you start flossing regularly, it shouldn't hurt. It's essential to healthy gums, which are essential to keeping your teeth.

Well, thanks to complete neglect on the part of my parents as a child, I am now undergoing extensive dental work. When my new dentist (thank God I changed) drilled for crowns he gave me a good talking to about flossing. He said that he could see the decalcification (sp?) between my teeth and said that if I didn't floss every day for the rest of my life I would be in big trouble - like I'm not already. As I have already forked over nearly 10 grand just to fix what NEEDED to be done (this is before braces and SARPE) I choose to believe him. FLOSS...before it costs you thousands of dollars and lost teeth. (So did that scare you into flossing?)

Everyone on this board will basically tell you to floss at least once a day. I floss maybe once every 2 days, sometimes 3 if I'm really pressed. I've never had a cavity, my gums are perfectly pink and I experience no pain whatsoever. I think the trick is that as soon as I eat something I use water to clean my mouth after every meal by swishing it around EXTREMELY fast and for maybe a minute or so. I also brush very thoroughly, but not IMMEDIATELY after every meal because I've seen it cause more problems in those that I've known. Don't stress about it.

Sarah,

I just had my first real cleaning by a hygienist last week- and I am now a dedicated flosser! My teeth are in excellent health, thanks to my Mum and regular visits to the dentist every 6 months. But my gums were in poor shape, I had gingivitis. I had never learned how to floss and it showed. The hygienist took the time to show me how to do it and explain why it is so important. It hurts to start with, but even a week after the cleaning it doesn't hurt me anymore so you'll probably find that the pain is due to gum diesease. Once you get rid of that it won't hurt so much. And my teeth and gums feel so good after I've done it- it's worth it!

It takes time, and if you're brand new to flossing, speak to your dentist, or even better, your hygienist, or google on the net for instructions- most people floss wrongly so if you're going to do it- and do!- make sure you're doing it properly.

Best of luck!

Oh, and you said you wanted to be scared into flossing... try this...

http://www.enexus.com/gumdisease/

and do some google picture searches on gum disease!

I have a question to add to this thread. Between every tooth i have gaps large enough to use a proxy brush, is it ok to use this instead of flossing whilst my gaps still exist?

Obviously once they are gone i will have to use floss again.

floss works better under the gum

Yep, that's exactly what I would say. I used to think flossing was for getting food and plaque out from between the teeth but it is also just as important to clean under the gum. If you're not sure what I mean by cleaning under the gum- just do a google for 'how to floss', there are heaps of instructions out there!

I guess I'll be a devil's advocate on this one.

I floss every other day, not every day. And, I don't floss for a few days after an adjustment if my teeth are bothering me. When I went for my cleaning, the assistant said that this was better than not flossing at all!

I think this is another case where people are different.

Best advice is to follow what your dentist and/or ortho tells you about your particular case.

oh, i have a few reasons which may convince you.

You can see them by clicking <a>here</a>.

Here's another... you notice how awkward and difficult it is to eat when your teeth hurt? Imagine how difficult and awkward it'll be to eat hard foods when you don't have any teeth to tear in to the food.
You can and more than likely WILL lose teeth if you don't floss. It's not even a question of whether, it's a question of WHEN (and if you're a smoker or at genetic predisposition, it could be sooner than later).

Your bone erodes, as do your gums, exposing the root (ouch, any?) and the surgery is extremely expensive and painful. Sure, if the bone gets eaten away, they can just cut a flap of your gums and put in bone grafts, or to fix the recessions, you can have gum grafts (i'm told this is extremely painful) which they take from the top of your palate and graft to the receding gums, but do you really want them to have to?


Oh and one more... think about how expensive your braces are. Now think about how expensive it will be to:
-replace missing teeth
-have surgery to restore your gums
-scaling and planing your teeth
-fill cavities between your teeth

Anyways, I hope this worked. ;o) good luck!

oops. my link didn't work.
http://images.google.ca/images?svnum=10 ... um+disease

or just google gum disease on images.google.com