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Dental floss or floss
Floss, or dental flossshould be used before brushing your teeth. You can brush only 3 out of 5 tooth surfaces with a toothbrush – the interdental spaces are inaccessible to it. Consequently, plaque and food pieces remain in them. If the plaque is not removed, it eventually turns into tartar. The gums become inflamed and bleed, and periodontitis begins. And the remnants of food between the teeth is a direct road to caries. Floss will save us from a daunting prospect.
Flosses are made from silk (floss in translation from English – silk) or artificial threads. They are:
- waxed (soaked in wax; easily penetrate into the tightest spaces between teeth);
- unwaxed (do not slip, but clean better);
- round (if the gaps are wide);
- flat (suitable if the distance between the teeth is minimal),
- with a mint flavor (refresh),
- soaked in fluorides (for the prevention of caries).
How to floss
Better in front of a mirror. Unwind the thread 20-25 cm long. Wrap one end around the middle finger of your left hand, the other around the index finger of your right hand. Thread the floss between your teeth and make a few vigorous upward strokes, scraping off plaque from the walls and scrubbing away food debris.
Contraindications for using dental floss
If you have or are actively working with floss in your mouth, you will further irritate the gums. If – you can break off a piece of the damaged tooth. If so, use floss only if you are sure that these fixtures hold well in place.
Mouthwash with special fluids
A dental care session should include and rinsing special fluids. Dentists advise doing this in the morning and evening. During sleep, the production of saliva is suspended, and bacteria begin to actively multiply in the mouth (saliva has bactericidal properties). Having rinsed out our mouth early in the morning, we wash off the colonies of bacteria and acquire freshness of breath, which the harmful microbes have completely reduced to zero. The evening treatment removes bacteria that have accumulated in the mouth during the day.
There are a lot of liquids that delight the eye with vigorous colors and invigorate the sense of smell with intense smells, there are a lot of liquids in pharmacies – alcoholic, non-alcoholic, dry.
- … Saturated solutions of plant extracts containing alcohol. They are added 20-25 drops to a glass of water.
- … Does not require dilution, practically does not contain alcohol. There are also non-alcoholic options in general – for children, motorists and convinced teetotalers.
- … Sold in bags, they are diluted with boiled water. Convenient to take with you on trips.
- … Contains fluoride and calcium. You need to rinse after brushing your teeth, for at least 2 minutes, so that the elements have time to be absorbed. Dentists recommend “poking” – forcefully pushing the rinse aid through clenched teeth to treat the interdental spaces, the inaccessibility of which we have already complained about.
- … Contains neovitin, azulene, chlorophyll coniferous extract and ginseng. These elements relieve inflammation in the gums and heal them. It is better to use it before brushing your teeth: they soften plaque, it will be easier to remove it.
- … Whiten and get rid of unpleasant odors; useful in the morning after the binge.
Precautions for using rinses
If there is an antibacterial substance in the elixir, the teeth darken. In addition, chlorhexidine kills not only harmful, but also beneficial microbes, which is fraught with oral dysbiosis. Therefore, it is better to use such rinses only in the acute period of the disease, no longer than two weeks. If there are problems with the thyroid gland, you will have to do without mouth rinses, despite the fact that they effectively fight gingivitis, periodontitis and other inflammatory diseases.
In general, dentists advise periodically changing the rinses so that the bacteria do not get used to the antiseptic.