How to Floss

I've been asked to spread the gospel of flossing a bit more effectively, with some info on how to do it right.

First, let me share a few key pointers:

1. The main purpose of flossing is to remove plaque from your teeth—the floss should be making contact with your teeth, not your gums. (This was the heart of my mistake—I was flossing the gums between my teeth rather than the teeth themselves.)
2. Floss before you brush.
3. Floss once a day, at night.
4. It's best to do it every day, but it's not all or nothing—some flossing is better than no flossing.
5. Use a long piece of floss (18 inches seems to be the magic length), and use a clean segment for each tooth.
6. You're mainly cleaning the sides of your teeth. When you insert the floss between two teeth, floss up and down the side of each tooth, one at a time. Remember to keep the pressure against the tooth, not the gum.
7. You need to go below the gum line for each tooth. This sounds weird (and painful), but the floss should slip easily (and painlessly) below the gumline.
8. Keep a firm grip on the floss, but be gentle. Don't traumatize your gums.
9. It takes a while to get the hang of it—don't get discouraged if you feel uncoordinated and awkward at first.
10. Once you do get the hang of it, it actually takes very little time. My hygienist flossed my whole mouth in under a minute. And you can spare a minute every night, right?

I looked around and tried to find a great video to share with you, but the pickings are somewhat slim. This one isn't bad (comparatively speaking).

Here's a very brief guide from the American Dental Hygienists' Association.

And here's a more detailed guide (with animation!) from something called Dental-Picture-Show.com.

I admit that I floss out of fear: fear of gum surgery, fear of my teeth falling out (a real risk if you have seriously receding gums), and fear of what it would cost (not only in dollars but in pain, time, and inconvenience) if I had to have gum surgery—or get new teeth.

If you floss for other reasons, more power to you (and your gums)!

But if you're not flossing at all, fear isn't a bad motivator for getting started—and sticking with it.

Floss on!