Establishing a Lasting Flossing Habit
Brushinghelps remove food particles from your teeth, but they can still get in betweenthem. Flossing gets rid of theparticles that end up between your teeth, which helps lower your risk of gumdisease and tooth decay. If you brush regularly but have trouble remembering tofloss, keep the following tips in mind for better oral hygiene.
Problemswith Flossing
Why dopeople tend to have a harder time remembering to floss? Flossing can be a toughhabit to form, but it’s important to do so. You might forget to floss if you’renot sure how to do it or if you don’t like the sensation of having flossdigging between your teeth. The key to getting into the habit of flossing is tomake it a rewarding experience.
Buildinga Flossing Habit
Brushingprovides instant results since you can feel that your teeth are clean rightaway. The benefits of flossing aren’t as easy to detect, so you might feel asthough you’re wasting your time. However, you’re doing your teeth and gums a bigfavor when you floss. To turn this into a positive experience, try thefollowing steps:
- Use a cue: Put a post-it note on your bathroom mirror or set a reminder on your phone. You won’t have to remember on your own to floss your teeth, which makes you more likely to do it.
- Keep it simple and convenient: You don’t only have to floss when you’re brushing your teeth at home two or three times a day. You can also floss after eating when you’re out and about. To make this easy, keep floss with you at all times, so you can practice this habit at work or while running errands. This will help you build a solid flossing habit.
- Start small: Don’t get discouraged if you forget to floss every day at first. If you’re not used to doing this, it takes time to form this habit. Instead, focus on flossing at least once a week at first or every other day.
Routinecleanings and exams are also important for keeping your gums and teeth healthy.Contact Great LakesDental to make an appointment with our dentist if it’stime for your next checkup.