Nearly everyone knows that flossing is a necessity to keep your gums and teeth healthy. However, getting started can be tough, especially if you haven't taken the best of care of your oral health. However, that doesn't mean you should give up on flossing. Keep reading to discover why it can be so hard or unpleasant to start flossing and what you can do to make it easier for yourself.
Gum Disease
One of the most common problems people who start flossing experience is that they're already going through a mild form of gum disease.
Gum disease comes in different stages, including gingivitis and periodontitis. With gingivitis, symptoms often go unnoticed until you start flossing. By flossing, you stimulate the gums and remove biofilm and plaque, which can often cause irritation, redness, and bleeding in the gums. This isn't something that anyone wants to go through, and it might discourage you from flossing.
Tartar
Another common problem people have is having a hard time getting floss between your teeth. While this is sometimes due to overcrowding or using the wrong kind of floss, if you haven't seen the dentist for a while, tartar is more likely to be the culprit.
Tartar is the final stage of plaque. Once plaque becomes tartar, it can't be removed at home, and it becomes hard and solid. Tartar can form on the edges of teeth - especially when you don't floss - and reduces space between your teeth. This can make it tough to get the floss between your teeth, and even harder to readily clean your gums and teeth.
Making it Easier
The good news is that if you're going through one or both of these problems, it's easy enough to fix. All you need to do is go to your dentist's office for a standard exam and dental cleaning.
Dentists and dental hygienists are equipped with the training and tools necessary to reverse gum disease and to remove tartar. When your gums and teeth are healthy and devoid of tartar, you'll be able to floss with extreme ease.
In addition to making it easier to glide the floss and not having to experience gum bleeding, you may also find that your flossing experience is more enjoyable. The discomfort or irritation you may be experiencing right now from flossing will not continue once your mouth is healthy, and flossing will help to keep it that way.
Flossing is a necessity, but if you start trying to do it when you haven't gotten dental help in a long time, there can be plenty of stumbling blocks. Get help from a dental office like Ramtown Dental Associates first and then build a good flossing habit.
Share17 July 2018
Being born with naturally soft teeth, I've spent a lot of time in and out of the dentist's office. Not only have I learned a lot about basic dental care, I've also discovered many tips for dealing with broken teeth, extractions, implants, and more. I decided that I wanted to make the most of my experience by sharing what I've learned with others. True first-hand experience is a great teacher, and I knew that my story could help. I created this site to do just that, and I hope that the information here helps you to understand what to expect from your dental problems.