Dental Floss
Flossing is a critical part of keeping your teeth
clean. A toothbrush will clean the smooth
surfaces of your teeth very well, and will also reach into the crevices
under your gumline.
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At the left the
picture shows the area that a toothbrush cleans well. These smooth
surfaces do not get cavities very often, because most people clean
this part of their teeth pretty well and pretty regularly.
However, the place where the teeth touch
together, the interproximal zone, is a frequent |
 |
place for
tooth decay. You need dental floss
to clean this area at all. The
interproximal area is also the prime spot for developing
gum disease. |
One of the things that can make flossing difficult
is if the floss shreds. It will shred if you have rough dental work that
involves the contact point, or if the teeth are too close together. For
this reason, waxed floss has become popular. The wax helps it glide
through the contact point more easily and also strengthens it to resist
shredding.
Read about Supersmile whitening
toothpaste.
Read Dr. Hall's blog posts about
tooth decay and
gum disease.
