Flossing and Gum Disease

Everyone has used dental floss and some of you probably use it regularly. But most people have never had anyone at a dental office explain some important facts about flossing. As you know, the word 'plaque' simply means the bacteria that live in your mouth. These bacteria are not only found on your teeth, but they also collect under the gums.

Flossing your teeth is very similar to cleaning your fingernails. When you clean your nails, you go under the nail, right? It's the same principle with flossing. There is an empty space under the gums around every tooth and if the floss doesn't disappear under the gums, you won't remove the bacteria hiding there.

Although flossing will remove food from between your teeth, the main purpose for doing it is to remove the plaque germs hiding under your gums. If this isn't done regularly, these bacteria will cause gum disease, which is totally painless. And the only symptom is that your gums may bleed on occasion. Most people ignore the bleeding because there's no pain and they think that some bleeding is normal. This is absolutely not true; bleeding from your gums is never normal.

If the plaque bacteria aren't removed from under the gums by flossing regularly (daily is ideal), they eventually turn into what dentists call tartar. This is like little pieces of cement stuck to your teeth. If this is allowed to build up under the gums, it will eventually destroy the bones that anchor your teeth to the jawbone. But if this condition is caught early, it's easy to treat.