Floss or Rot?? (Dental Floss in General)

Member Name: TigerTiger

Product:	Dental Floss in General
Date:	06/02/02 (1409 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keeps your teeth and gums nice and healthy

Disadvantages: Can be v v uncomfortable, Need to practice to make it easier!

Flossing is one of those things that quite frankly we don’t do enough of.

Why have I come to this conclusion? Well, it’s a common fact and most dentists would back me up that brushing teeth alone is not enough, even the best of teeth brushes cannot get rid of everything between our teeth. So, the best way to ensure that you keep healthy teeth and gums is to floss, basically getting right between our teeth and at the gum line. Flossing can help prevent horrible conditions like gingivitis (bleeding gums) and ultimately more awful conditions like peridontitis.

I also think the very fact that there are so few opinions on flossing on dooyoo stands testament to its unpopularity. People seem more passionate in writing about “Footballers Wives”, than they do about flossing???

So why is this?? I shall let you know my story and why I think people don’t like doing it. Many years ago when I was 18 I was unlucky enough to get an infected gum and it hurt a great deal (under statement). My dentist told me that flossing was the way to ensure it didn’t happen again. I set about become a better flosser…… and this is what I found.

~~It is time consuming~~

However, firstly I found that it was too time consuming. They recommend that you do it at least once a day, which suggests you should actually do it twice. Taking the time to floss between each tooth and ensure it is clean is not a quick job. It is also the last thing I ever feel like at the weekends when I have been out for a drink.

~~~It hurts (initially)~~~

Another thing that put me off flossing it that when I first started doing it the whole process felt strange and actually rather hurt. It could be hard to get the floss between the teeth and it felt sore. I also had a real fear that my teeth would fall out. I believe this is a big turn off. There are many more pleasant things to do in life, why inflict this pain on o
urselves??? It can also be especially painful when you have small gaps between your teeth. However, as I have discovered in time it gets less and less uncomfortable and just feels like a part of your routine. Also, your flossing technique improves and this always helps, it also speeds things up.

I gave up the first time round and ended up with another gum infection 6 months later. So, now through necessity I have become a flossing convert. I may not like it and I may wish I could get away without doing it. However, I am resigned to having to do it.


~~~FLOSS TEST~~~~
Having made the decision to floss it is quite scary when you are confronted with a massive array of flossing things. There are different thicknesses (25mm/50mm), different styles (string, tapes or sticks), different flavours, all be them different varieties of mint and waxed or non-waxed!!


Having tried many of them throughout the years I will tell you about three that I have used most in order to compare them and tell which I believe to be the best.

~~~Oral B Ultra Floss~~~

This comes in a nice little pot which stands up on its own and means you can just leave it beside the sink with your toothbrush. It comes in different flavours and thicknesses (25/50mm). It is one of the more pricey flossing options at £2.69. On average the pot lasts me a month.

Ultra floss smells very minty and leaves your mouth tasting nice and fresh. However, I find even the thinnest floss in this hard to use as it is quite spongy and thick rather than being tightly wound like some other types. I find it quite distressing struggling to get this between my teeth and it doesn’t inspire me to continue at all. Also, I find that because of the texture it tends to catch and break quite a lot which is inconvenient and at times can be uncomfortable. This may be the most expensive floss I am going to tell you about, but the one I am recommending least. *


~~~Tesco’s Total Care floss~~~

This comes in a very average package, but then again that is reflected in the £1.69 price. However, this is actually a surprisingly good product. I like the minty waxed variety, as it makes it very easy to floss between the teeth. My teeth didn’t feel as minty as with the Oral B Variety’s, but considering I always brush my teeth after flossing (it gets rid of any debris that way!!) it doesn’t really matter. This is a very good valuable alternative and my second choice. ***

~~~Oral B Satin Floss~~~

Oral B offer another dental floss called Satin Floss, which is a little cheaper than Ultra Floss at £2.29. However, this is in my opinion a lot easier to use and superior. This is actually in a tape format rather than string and it means that it is more glossy and slides between teeth very easily. It also comes in different minty flavours and once again they leave your mouth feeling very fresh, more so than the Tesco variety.

There are many other styles you can try if any of these don’t suit. I have heard that there are some newer hand held stick style flossers that are a lot easier than having to hold floss between two two fingers, whilst getting the angle write.

Writing this I am well aware that it will not be the kind of opinion that many people want to write, after all, flossing is not that interesting and I myself would rather be reading a book or film review, but this is an important topic and one which warrants attention.

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