Do you floss?

[anee1984]

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Hehe, I'm just wondering. Do you practice what you preach? In truth, I only floss once every two or three days. If I want to be a dentist, I guess I need to be less of a hypocrite. 😳 Additionally, I'm wondering why some people just don't floss. Is it too time consuming? painful? or what?

 

[gatszu]

only once every 2 or 3 days? why not everyday? i can't get a good night of sleep w/o flossing.

people just don't think flossing is important, so they don't floss. my gf didnt floss before until she started dating me. now, she flosses every night. people say when you like someone, you have to accept everything that the person is. well, not exactly when it comes to not flossing 😛

 

[dinesh]

I floss whenever my dad/mom bugs me....That is usually once every couple of days.. 🙄

I should however try it on a day to day basis.

 

[Flipper405]

I used to floss almost never... every week or so. Now I floss/brush twice a day, immediately after lunch and dinner. 😀

One thing that helped for me is making it a habit. Kinda like wearing your seatbelt. If you just make sure to do it every time and every day, eventually you just do it naturally.

 

[grant555]

I floss every morning. I think it is essential, but to many people it is not important. Take care and GOD bless

 

[ElDienteLoco]

Floss?

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/pullmyfinger-storer/fannyfloss.html

me too.

 

[Biogirl361]

when i have to use conventional floss... maybe only once a week. but if i have those disposable floss-picks then i do it every day because it is so easy. i definilty plan on giving out a handful of samples of those to all my patients.

 

[dexadental]

Oh my god I floss everyday (have braces) so I use the oral b super floss and love it. I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing about all that gunk in between my teeth...yuck!

 

[Pelotari]

Hehe, I'm just wondering. Do you practice what you preach? In truth, I only floss once every two or three days. If I want to be a dentist, I guess I need to be less of a hypocrite. 😳 Additionally, I'm wondering why some people just don't floss. Is it too time consuming? painful? or what?

Religiously - right before Letterman's top 10. Oh, and on weekends too... 😉

 

[ItsGavinC]

Additionally, I'm wondering why some people just don't floss. Is it too time consuming? painful? or what?

Not a single one of my patients uses floss. Not one. That's probably a bit out of the ordinary, but I'd venture to say that probably only 10-20% of people floss, and probably only half of those on a daily basis.

People just don't understand oral health or oral hygiene, so as professionals it's partly our responsibility to educate them and answer questions they might have.

 

[Pikeyman]

I'm going to recommend people not to floss.

Heck, I'm going to tell them not to brush their teeth at all. Brushing is for fools, I'll tell them.

I'm going to have a plate of candy at the lobby for kids.

I'm going to have a soda machine in the lobby where people can drink up while waiting to see me.

Heck, I'll throw in candy vending machines and cotton-candy makers, free-of-charge.

Kids want to be like celebrities so I'll say if you want to be like those rappers with gold teeth, you shouldn't worry about brushing and just "let yourself go."

Yes, that's what I'll do. I'll do it. I'm serious. Don't think I'm lying or just wasting your time here.

 

[xc1999]

I did before I got braces.....now it takes me like 7 minutes or so to floss because I have to use floss threaders to get under the wires and everything 😡 so now i only do it once every few days....hehee :-D

 

[J2AZ]

Flossing three times a week is plenty. Once a day is probably ideal and twice a day is overkill.

 

[RaiderNation]

I didn't floss that much until I took a preview into dentistry class and saw the real, microscopic importance of flossing. The last thing I want is those crazy anaerobic bacteria having a field day on my teeth and gums while I sleep.

 

[drhobie7]

Flossing three times a week is plenty. Once a day is probably ideal and twice a day is overkill.

I remember this picture in Oral Path of a guy who used interproximal wooden picks obsessively. It was nuts. Like a little beaver had eaten two (mesial and distal) huge concavities into the cervical of his incisors. Um, not really about flossing, but this made me think of it.

 

[DrTacoElf]

I floss at least once per day sometimes twice. I really like unwaxed conventional floss but my second favorite is glide 🙂

 

[ItsGavinC]

Flossing three times a week is plenty. Once a day is probably ideal and twice a day is overkill.

If once a day is ideal, then how is 3x/week plenty?

And, if the patient has a history of decay, coupled with significant plaque trap areas, how is twice daily overkill?

 

[onetoothleft]

conventional floss breaks in my teeth so i use glide and that works well.

I floss about 3x a weeks 🙄

 

[Comet208]

I'm going to recommend people not to floss.

Heck, I'm going to tell them not to brush their teeth at all. Brushing is for fools, I'll tell them.

I'm going to have a plate of candy at the lobby for kids.

I'm going to have a soda machine in the lobby where people can drink up while waiting to see me.

Heck, I'll throw in candy vending machines and cotton-candy makers, free-of-charge.

Kids want to be like celebrities so I'll say if you want to be like those rappers with gold teeth, you shouldn't worry about brushing and just "let yourself go."

Yes, that's what I'll do. I'll do it. I'm serious. Don't think I'm lying or just wasting your time here.

I hope this is not what they teach at NYU!

 

[pranney]

Here are some great links to floss:

Floss.com

Crest Glide

Johnson & Johnson

BY FAR THE BEST FLOSS OF THEM ALL 😀

 

[Flipper405]

If once a day is ideal, then how is 3x/week plenty?

And, if the patient has a history of decay, coupled with significant plaque trap areas, how is twice daily overkill?

Yeah... although I have not had any cavities, my plaque buildup is extreme. I am not kidding when I say my hygienist told me I had more tartar than the rest of her patients combined for the day... so I need to floss twice a day.


I use OralB floss too... it's good! 👍

...speaking of which, time to go floss and brush

 

[Biogirl361]

I remember this picture in Oral Path of a guy who used interproximal wooden picks obsessively. It was nuts. Like a little beaver had eaten two (mesial and distal) huge concavities into the cervical of his incisors. Um, not really about flossing, but this made me think of it.

yeah, we had a patient like that once where i work, pretty crazy.

 

[emster]

Hehehh, I'm friends with a ton of dental students, and hardly any of them floss regularly. One chews and almost all of them are social smokers. I've never seen a bigger bunch of smoking, candy-eating, non dentally hygienic people in my life. lol Somehow they all have great teeth, tho.

 

[DinoDentist]

Hehehh, I'm friends with a ton of dental students, and hardly any of them floss regularly. One chews and almost all of them are social smokers. I've never seen a bigger bunch of smoking, candy-eating, non dentally hygienic people in my life. lol Somehow they all have great teeth, tho.

Haven't you guys ever heard of the "Dental School Challenge"? Go through 4 years of dental school without brushing or flossing. Its intense!

 

[J2AZ]

If once a day is ideal, then how is 3x/week plenty?

And, if the patient has a history of decay, coupled with significant plaque trap areas, how is twice daily overkill?

Lets talk about the healthy person without extreme periodontal disease or extreme "trap areas". There is always an exception.

If you have healthy gum tissue (pockets of 2 and 3 mm) you should be able to maintain those pocket depths with regular flossing (3x week) and brushing 2 times daily. This would be and example of PLENTY.

We all know that you trap food between your teeth daily thus it is IDEAL to floss daily inorder to remove that build-up. However, if you can not do this daily you can still maintain healthy gum tissue (periodontal disease being the #1 factor in tooth loss) by flossing 3x daily (once again plenty).

Overkill is two or more times a day because first of all it is unnecessary. You are not going to dramatically reduce your risk of periodontal disease or cavities if you floss this often. Thus it is overkill. In addition, someone who flosses 2+ times a day is possibly overzealous and may run the risk of doing more damage than good (possibly seperating the periodontal ligament from the tooth or causing floss marks in the gum tissue).

Just like overbrushing can be bad due to tooth brush abrasion in the enamel and gum recesion, so can flossing.

However, there are exceptions to everything.

I hope this clears things up for you Gavin.

 

[Sprgrover]

Hehe, I'm just wondering. Do you practice what you preach? In truth, I only floss once every two or three days. If I want to be a dentist, I guess I need to be less of a hypocrite. 😳 Additionally, I'm wondering why some people just don't floss. Is it too time consuming? painful? or what?

Honestly, I floss religiously twice a day and have done so for a few years now. I didn't used to when I was much younger and that has sadly lead to some cavities along the way. 😳