Dentists insist on the importance of maintaining proper oral hygiene. Daily hygiene habits when cleaning your teeth can be decisive in avoiding oral diseases such as gingivitis, periodontitis, or cavities, among others. The main action to maintain proper dental hygiene is to brush your teeth.

In addition to brushing your teeth three times a day, after each meal, you should carry out a thorough cleaning without leaving any gaps in your teeth unbrushed. A common mistake is brushing too briefly; you should dedicate time to this task. You should also change your toothbrush every 3 or 4 months. To achieve better results, you can use mouthwash and also dental floss. Many people forget to use dental floss or do not know how to use it correctly and this can be a big mistake.

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The Most Common Mistakes When Using Dental Floss

To achieve optimal oral hygiene, you must use dental floss correctly. These are some of the most common mistakes when using dental floss:

1. Not Using Dental Floss.

Most people think that brushing their teeth is enough, and for that reason, many have not included dental floss in their routine. My local dentist in Newton told me that not using dental floss can be the beginning of diseases and problems such as bad breath or bleeding gums.

2. Not Flossing Before or After Brushing.

Some people think that the correct thing to do is to floss before brushing to remove food debris and finish cleaning with brushing. Some use it after brushing. As long as you continue to do both as part of your daily oral hygiene routine, you will get the cleaning your mouth needs to keep your teeth strong and your gums in good condition.

3. Flossing the Same Thing.

You brush your teeth every day, but you do not think about how you should do it. Do not brush too hard to avoid wearing down the enamel, and try to clean all areas. To get rid of any plaque, you should use dental floss. The problem is that some people use the same floss for each tooth. It is recommended to use a new portion for each space to avoid transferring debris from one tooth to the next.

4. Type of Floss.

You should use different types of floss and interdental brushes depending on the condition of each patient. Ideally, you should consult your dentist so that he or she can tell you the best option and how to use it.

5. Excessive Force When Cleaning Between Teeth

When you do not know how to use dental floss, you can end up using too much force to insert it between your teeth, and this can affect your gums in the short term. It is advisable to hold the floss firmly and apply gentle pressure from top to bottom when cleaning.

6. Using Dental Floss By Separating Your Teeth Into Sections

When you clean your teeth, you must do it in an appropriate order, and thus avoid leaving some sections of your mouth dirty. What dentists recommend is dividing your mouth into four quadrants. You can start by cleaning the upper left side, then move on to the right side, maintaining a sequential order when cleaning. You should do the same procedure with both sides of the inside of your teeth.

7. Stopping Flossing When You Have Braces

This can be a usual mistake, stopping flossing when you have braces because it seems cumbersome when cleaning your teeth. Keep in mind that it is essential to comply with this procedure. You should clean between your braces to prevent bacteria from building up in those spaces and risking oral disease.

8. Stop Flossing Because Your Gums Bleed

Do not stop flossing when your gums bleed because you think the floss is what is causing the bleeding. Bleeding gums can be caused by various diseases, such as gingivitis, which often causes bleeding even after brushing.

9. Too Much Flossing

If you tend to be a stickler for cleaning your teeth, remember that too much of it tends to be bad. Therefore, it is recommended not to spend more than five minutes cleaning your teeth completely, which would mean cleaning for two minutes with a toothbrush and the remaining five with dental floss.

10. Do Not Apply Excessive Pressure On the Surface of the Tooth

The pressure you should apply when cleaning your teeth with dental floss is crucial because when you put too little pressure you can leave areas full of bacteria. So you need to make sure the pressure is not excessive to avoid the dental plaque that protects the teeth.

11. Food Remains are Not the Only Thing that You Should Clean

When you proceed to clean your teeth after eating, you can make the mistake of concentrating on removing the visible food remains, without taking into account the presence of bacterial plaque. This plaque-containing bacteria is not visible to the human eye, so you must comply with the proper use of dental floss when cleaning your teeth, to avoid leaving areas exposed to microbes.

How to Use Dental Floss Correctly

• Take the time necessary to brush your teeth.
• Use dental floss daily, at least once a day.
• Do not press the floss against your teeth. Hug their walls with different movements.
• Do not pass the same dental floss over different teeth. Cut at least 30 centimeters to

If you follow correct interdental hygiene, you will avoid gum problems and consult your dentist about the type of floss you need.

Conclusion

If you want to have a perfect smile, or at least get close to it, you must maintain good habits and perform proper oral hygiene. If you want to have a fresh and pleasant breath and not be afraid to talk to people because you feel that you make them uncomfortable, you do not need to go to the dentist every day. You can achieve acceptable dental health by brushing correctly after each meal, using mouthwash, and flossing.

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