As you have probably become completely aware, thanks to our passion on the topic, flossing your smile to protect your oral health is paramount! However, it’s important that you recognize that you can use floss to your benefit or you may accidentally use it to your detriment. To make sure you’ve got your dental hygiene on the right path (and that you aren’t taking dental matters that we should be handling into your own hands), we offer you a few helpful suggestions for things you might want to avoid.

#1: Moving It Up And Down

Yes, you will need to move the floss up and down. However, if you just move it up and down, you’re not going to make much progress with plaque removal. Instead, make sure you’re bending it around the side of one tooth and then the other as you move it for effective oral health protection.

#2: Reusing It

Don’t reuse your floss! Once you’ve used it, throw it away. Don’t use it again later, don’t wash it and then reuse it. Simply get rid of it and begin again with a new strand.

#3: Using Floss-And-Door Tooth Removal

Perhaps you are one our many patients who has heard of removing a dangling baby tooth by tying floss around the tooth (and tying the other end to a door handle and quickly closing that door). Perhaps you have heard some variation of this. If not … perfect! If so, keep in mind that the only way a baby tooth should come out is naturally or with our help. Any other attempts can cause oral health trauma.