I think it depends. If you clearly have teeth that tend to catch food, flossing is probably great. I generally use a little proxabrush to clean between the base of the teeth. Most problems happen between the teeth and at the gum line. I have great checkups most of the time. I floss only if I can feel something stuck between. I used to floss but this is much better.
It’s in the details of the report. If you floss like most people, perfunctorily sliding the floss between each pair of teeth like a night watchman hitting all the check stations without looking around, your results won’t be very good..If you floss like me, your dentist will always congratulate you on your tooth care before going ahead and cleaning them with motorized grit anyway.
I use the hardest toothbrush I can find. It gets in places that cut floss..magicwalnutI lose an average of a tooth a decade, if you include the four impacted third molars extracted when I was 12.
My teeth are awful, from years of misguided neglect. When I got out on my own, I paid a call on my dentist, and he literally said I was “going to Hell in a handbasket.” The handbasket makes it worse. After that, I managed to train myself to a routine of brushing, floss, Water Pik™, and gum care. My teeth didn’t get any better, structurally, but their decline has slowed dramatically.
Liverlips McCracken Premium Member almost 8 years ago
Studies be damned. When I’ve got food bits stuck between my teeth, I’m hitting the floss.
NeedaChuckle Premium Member almost 8 years ago
Not only that, I’ll still use my water pik.
magicwalnut Premium Member almost 8 years ago
It’s worked for me…75 and I still have all my own teeth….and about fifteen rolls of floss in my bathroom closet. Can’t stop, won’t stop..
Theodore E. Lind Premium Member almost 8 years ago
I think it depends. If you clearly have teeth that tend to catch food, flossing is probably great. I generally use a little proxabrush to clean between the base of the teeth. Most problems happen between the teeth and at the gum line. I have great checkups most of the time. I floss only if I can feel something stuck between. I used to floss but this is much better.
Kylop almost 8 years ago
I hate flossing. But I have to. So I do it. Its like mowing the lawn. I don’t water the lawn but it keeps growing.
Kip W almost 8 years ago
It’s in the details of the report. If you floss like most people, perfunctorily sliding the floss between each pair of teeth like a night watchman hitting all the check stations without looking around, your results won’t be very good..If you floss like me, your dentist will always congratulate you on your tooth care before going ahead and cleaning them with motorized grit anyway.
hippogriff almost 8 years ago
I use the hardest toothbrush I can find. It gets in places that cut floss..magicwalnutI lose an average of a tooth a decade, if you include the four impacted third molars extracted when I was 12.
Liverlips McCracken Premium Member almost 8 years ago
Floss ’em if you got ’em.
Kip W almost 8 years ago
My teeth are awful, from years of misguided neglect. When I got out on my own, I paid a call on my dentist, and he literally said I was “going to Hell in a handbasket.” The handbasket makes it worse. After that, I managed to train myself to a routine of brushing, floss, Water Pik™, and gum care. My teeth didn’t get any better, structurally, but their decline has slowed dramatically.