Flossing your teeth daily does more than just making sure that your teeth stay healthy. It can also affect your body's health. Flossing your teeth may help prevent things like diabetes and Alzheimer's. However, flossing's most visible effect is on your teeth and gums. Getting rid of the food particles and the bacteria that grows on those will help protect your teeth from cavities and your gums from gum disease. 

Teeth's Multiple Sides

Your teeth have more than just the front and back, which are easily reached by brushing. The less accessible sides are the ones in between your teeth. Your brush just doesn't do a good job of getting in between your teeth. If you look, you will see that you have more food bits in between your teeth and down by your gums than you do on the front and back of your teeth. 

Floss Types

There are different kinds of floss. They include waxed, unwaxed, and dental tape. Some floss is flavored. There are even flosses which are advertised as non-shredding, which means that they will stay in one piece in between your teeth, without any fibers coming out. Which kind of floss you use is generally up to your personal preferences. 

However, there are some kinds of floss which work better in certain situations. For example, if you are already dealing with some gingivitis, which can cause your gums to recede, then you should try dental tape. It is flatter and wider, more like a ribbon than thread. It can get in between the areas of your teeth that are exposed and to your gums more efficiently. 

Flossing Method

When you are flossing, it's important to make sure that you use the right technique. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have enough floss. You should have around 18 inches or so. You need to have that much so that you can always have some clean floss. 

Wrap the bulk of the floss around the middle finger of one of your hands. On the other middle finger, wrap just a little of the floss. That way you can unwrap some of the clean floss as you go, and wrap the dirty floss around your finger. Because you have wrapped the floss around your middle fingers, you can use your thumb and forefinger to actually use the floss. That will give you the best control over the floss as you can get. Once you have flossed all your teeth, you can brush, which will get rid of any leftover debris. 

Making sure that your teeth are healthy takes more than just a quick brushing morning and night; you need to make sure that you floss when you brush too. (For more information, contact Pike Lake Dental Center)