Daily Flossing: The New Year’s Resolution You’ll Want to Keep | West University Moms

As we ring in the new year, now is a great time to think about our everyday choices, especially how they affect our health. When you take a look at your New Year’s resolutions, think about adding better dental hygiene to your list! Along with a brighter smile, practicing good dental hygiene like flossing daily can help prevent cavities and gum disease. It’s also a habit to start teaching your children at a very young age and nothing works better than leading by example!

We all know that brushing twice a day is important, but did you know that daily flossing is essential too? Flossing daily can help remove plaque that contains bacteria that feeds on leftover food and sugars in your mouth. When this happens, acid is released that can eat away at the outer shell of your teeth and cause cavities. This in turn can cause pain, sensitivity, bad breath and infection.

Many younger children might find flossing difficult so it is always best to help supervise the process and assist, especially in the back of the mouth by the molars. You can use either conventional floss or flossers with handles, whichever you find easier to use on your child. Another helpful hint is to floss your child while they are lying down (i.e. on a couch or bed). Having them tilt their chin upwards while lying back will allow you better visibility and access to their teeth! Remember when flossing to avoid a sawing motion between the gums as this can be too harsh and uncomfortable for them. The proper way to floss is to gently push the floss pass the area of tooth contact then slide the floss up and down on either surface of the two teeth you are in between. This motion will insure that the plaque will be removed on both those tooth surfaces, neither of which can be accessed by the toothbrush. 

For more tips and tricks on making daily flossing a permanent step in your child’s dental hygiene routine, visit your trusted pediatric dental specialists at Cammarata Pediatric Dentistry Group. We’ve proudly served the West U and Bellaire community for generations and would be proud to serve you too. 

 

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