At Saba Road Dental Center, our dentists often get asked about the need to floss. Patients wonder why they need to floss if they brush their teeth thoroughly twice a day. Today we share a few of the reasons why flossing is an important part of a caring for your oral health.
Keeping Your Smile Bright & Healthy
To help keep your mouth healthy and looking its best, regular visits to your dentist for checkups and hygiene cleanings combined with a good at-home dental care routine are essential.
At-Home Dental Hygiene
Brushing your teeth thoroughly for two full minutes twice a day, and flossing once a day will help you to prevent tooth decay and gum disease.
Our Richmond dentists know that some of our patients who do a great job brushing their teeth, choose not to floss because they think that brushing is sufficient. But flossing cleans in ways that your toothbrush just can't.
About 1/3 of each tooth's surface is difficult to reach with your toothbrush. When you skip flossing, those hard to reach places aren't getting the cleaning that they need to stay their healthiest. By taking a couple of extra minutes to floss each day, you will remove plaque and bacteria from those tight spaces between your teeth, and at your gum line where your toothbrush doesn't clean as well.
Plaque
Throughout the day a sticky film of plaque gradually builds up on your teeth. If plaque isn't removed from your teeth it can turn into tartar in as little as 36 hours!
Tartar
After the soft plaque has hardened into tartar it becomes much more difficult to remove from your teeth, and can lead to oral health issues such as tooth decay and periodontal disease. Tartar typically needs to be removed by a dental professional during a hygiene cleaning appointment.
Simply by flossing your teeth each day you can help to prevent plaque and tartar from building up in the tight spaces between your teeth. Less tartar means less chance of developing tooth decay, cavities, or gum disease and less scraping the next time you visit your hygienist for a cleaning.
