Problems That Arise When You Don'T Use Enough Dental Floss

When you reach for the dental floss to clean your teeth — something that you should be doing daily, not just when you have food that is stuck — you need to be cognizant of how much floss you pull off the roll. A lot of people fail to use enough dental floss to get the job done properly, and this can lead to some problems during your next visit to your dentist's office. You should use between 15 and 18 inches of floss for this job. If these numbers surprise you, there's a good chance that you're using only a fraction of the recommended length. The next time that you floss, pull out more floss to avoid these problems.

Difficulty Holding The Floss

To floss effectively, you should be able to wrap each end of the dental floss around your fingers a couple of times. Doing so allows you to hang onto the floss, which is integral to doing a proper job. If your strand of floss is too short, one end can continuously slide off your finger. This obviously impedes your ability to hold the floss in the correct manner, which makes it difficult to floss between your teeth properly. When you use enough floss, you'll have no trouble holding it securely.

Reusing The Same Area

Using between 15 and 18 inches of dental floss allows you to start at one end of the floss and work your way along it as you clean. This way, you're not using the same couple of inches of floss for the entire job, but rather using fresh, clean floss for most of the gaps between your teeth. When your floss is too short, you're reusing the same area over and over, which is removing bacteria from between your teeth — but then quickly reintroducing it to the gap between the next two teeth. The goal of flossing is to remove food particles and bacteria, not just relocate them within your mouth.

Cleanliness Issues

When you don't use enough dental floss, you'll find that you start to stretch it as tightly as possible in order to make the job easier. Doing so not only digs into your fingers and may be uncomfortable, but can actually make the job messier. When the floss is extremely taut, it has the ability to flick saliva and bits of food out of your mouth while you do the job. If you're standing in front of the bathroom mirror, it may be speckled by the time you're done. Some people hate this mess, and may make the bad decision to abandon flossing as a result. When you ensure that you're using enough floss, you don't need to worry about stretching it at taut as a guitar string, and this will make the job tidier. Don't hesitate to ask your dentist or dental hygienist to give you a refresher in flossing during your next appointment.