How to floss: The best way to floss your teeth

Have you ever wondered if you’re flossing your teeth correctly? I have so many patients that are embarrassed to ask me how to floss – and I tell them that being unsure about flossing is nothing to be ashamed of! So many of us were never actually taught any sort of technique for using dental floss effectively. So, this guide is here to walk you through everything you need to know to correctly floss your teeth! 

Why Flossing is Crucial for Oral Health

No toothbrush if effective enough on its own! To remove all of the plaque buildup in our moths, we always need to brush AND floss. Plaque is the fuzzy stuff that accumulates you’re your teeth, and if not removed in time can be pretty dangerous! It is full of bacteria that feed on sugars in your mouth and create acid – hello cavities and acid erosion! That plaque will also harden into calculus (tartar) over time which  exponentially raises your risk of developing gingivitis and periodontitis (gum disease). In fact, you can even develop gingivitis while the plaque biofilm is still soft and fuzzy – there’s so many bacteria in plaque that it causes localized inflammation in your gums. If your gums are bleeding when you brush and floss that could be a sign that your gums are inflamed. 

Why is Flossing important?

A toothbrush is great – an essential tool really – to the cleanliness of your mouth. But it’s not adequate to only brush. Any toothbrush claiming to be good enough to replace flossing is basically a scam. Your toothbrush only cleans the outer surfaces of your teeth, because that’s where it’s bristles can reach. But what about the surface your teeth that are under your gums? What about the side surfaces of your teeth that are in contact with one another? No toothbrush is ever going to be able to reach these areas. Only floss can get in between your teeth and get the sides of them clean. And only floss will come under your gums and clean off that very lower part of your teeth. 

Right Type of Dental Floss

There are several types of dental floss and different flosses might be right for different mouths! Let’s look into this further:

Standard Floss

This is usually a thin, nylon strand – often nonflavored and can either be waxed or unwaxed. The thickness of the strand will vary between manufacturers. It does the job, but isn’t particularly exciting to use. 

Fluffy Floss / Expanding Floss

This floss is thin under tension and will fit between tight contacts, but when held loosly is thick and soft. This floss is especially effective for getting out debris and plaque between the teeth because of its size and texture. Many people say that these types of flosses feel more gentle and pleasant to use.

Dental Tape

This is floss which is wide and very thin. It is often easier to get through tight contacts. It can also be good for people with larger spaces between the teeth. 

Super Floss 

Super floss has a stiff end that is basically like a needle. This is used when there is a permanent retainer or braces that prevent normal floss from sliding down completely in between the teeth. The super floss is used as a needle and thread and is guided from the side, through the teeth underneath the wire, and retrieved on the other side. 

Water picks

Water picks are plastic handles that have a piece of floss on them. They can be especially useful for people with manual dexterity issues who struggle with traditional flosses. They can also be helpful to reach our back teeth. Often though, these picks have an extremely thin piece of floss that isn’t effective at removing all the plaque biofilm.  So, you need to really take your time and be careful when using floss picks to increase their effectiveness. 

Water flosser

A water flosser is an electronic tool that sprays water through a little nozzle and is a way to power wash your teeth. It is effective for removing large debris that is stuck in large spaces between teeth, under dental, bridges, or in orthodontic wires. It won’t, however, effectively remove the plaque biofilm under your gums. 

The Step-by-Step Guide to Proper Flossing Technique

• Break off about 40cm or 15in of floss
  • If important to have a long enough piece of floss so that you can hold it comfortably in both hands and have enough to use a new surface of floss between each tooth
• Wind the floss around your fingers
  • Hold one end of the floss in each hand and wind it up on your middle fingers of each hand so that you have a small free section between your hands. When you get more advanced you can wrap most of the floss around one finger and less on the other. 
• Leave 3-5cm or 1-2 inches of floss between your fingers to ensure you can pull the floss taut
  • This free surface will be the part that you floss with! 
• Place floss between your teeth
  • The floss in between your fingers on each hand should be pulled tightly – this is what you’re going to need to snap in between your teeth. If you’re holding the floss too loosely it will be impossible to get it in between your teeth. 
• Rub both sides of each tooth with a clean section of floss to ensure you remove plaque
  • It’s important that you don’t just work the floss up and down, but also guide the floss to the side and rub along the sides of both teeth that the floss has come between. This is called the C shaped floss technique. Plaque sticks onto our teeth so you need to actually be touching the teeth with the floss to get them clean. 
• Guide the floss under your gums 
  • When you’re rubbing the floss against a tooth, make sure to go all the way down to the gumline and even slightly under the gums. We actually have a few millimeters of free space right underneath the surface of our gums, and this is exactly where plaque loves to build up. If we don’t remove this plaque we will get gum inflammation. So don’t be afraid – floss under your gums! Just make sure you’re being gentle! 
• Repeat
  • Now do this between every single tooth! Don’t worry – this may seem like a lot of work, but once you get more practiced, you’ll be able to do this really quickly. And don’t forget to floss behind your last tooth! 
• Use a new section of floss for each area
  • As you are moving along your mouth, unwind some floss from one hand and wind it up on the other hand. Doing this will make sure you are getting a fresh section of floss in between your fingers for each new area. That way you aren’t just taking plaque from one part of your mouth and shoving it into another location! 

Incorporate Flossing into your Daily Routine 

Your goal is to be flossing every. single. night. We prefer bedtime flossing because it will get your mouth spotlessly clean before you sleep. While we sleep our mouth gets dry and allows many hours of damage to occur. But remember, any flossing you do it better than no flossing! If you’re only flossing once a week now, even just upping it to a few times a week will be a huge improvement. Or if you’re often too sleepy at bedtime to floss, try doing it after dinner. Maybe you’ll eat a snack afterwards but at least you flossed at some point! And if flossing your whole mouth seems like too big a task, at least floss your problem areas. But remember, we’re aiming for a full mouth floss every night – and with the proper floss that is a treat to use, you’ll more easily reach this goal!

 
 Time Required for Effective Flossing

You should be spending around 10-15 seconds per tooth, which adds up for 2-3 minutes for your whole mouth. 

Flossing Challenges

Don’t force floss between your teeth – some of us have extremely tight contact points and often we are able to get the floss down, but then struggle to remove it again. Remember, the floss doesn’t have to come out the same way it came in. You can always let go of the floss from one hand and just pull it out to the side. If you struggle with getting floss in between your teeth, it might also be because there is so much calculus (tartar) that the space is basically cemented shut. Get a good dental cleaning first to free up these areas. 

Be gentle! – We don’t want to stab our gums or cut them with the floss, so be effective but gentle while you move from tooth to tooth. 

Don’t be afraid of bleeding gums! – If your gums are bleeding even though you aren’t traumatizing them yourself, you aren’t doing something wrong! This is actually a sign of gum inflammation. And that means you need to be flossing more, not less! Once the plaque and all those bacteria has been removed for an extended period of time, the inflammation with heal and the bleeding will stop. If there is hard calculus build up present, this will need to be removed by at a professional dental cleaning. Inflamed gums are also very sensitive so once your gums return to a state of health, I promise that flossing will be a more pleasant experience! 

If bleeding gums persist – seek professional advice – If you’ve really committed to your flossing routine over a longer period and your gums are still bleeding, it’s time to get a dental check up. This might be because there is subgingival calculus (under your gums) that is still causing inflammation and needs to be removed by a professional. Or it might be a sign of other health conditions or side effects of medications. It’s always a good idea to get bleeding gums check out!

Tips for Flossing Success 

The number one piece of advice I give my patients with flossing is don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough. Ideally, we should be flossing every night, between all of our teeth. But this can be a lofty goal for many, and can feel so cumbersome that people just won’t floss at all. Here are some ways you can floss “good enough” as you work your way up to being a perfect flosser: 

1. Floss your problem areas first – we all have one or several spots in our mouths that are more problematic. This might be a place where food always gets stuck, where the dentist said you have a small cavity that is being watched, or where you always get build up – floss these spots first! That way if you’re too tired to floss the rest of your mouth, at least you got those high maintenance areas clean for the night! 
2. Floss after dinner - ideally we’re flossing right before bedtime so that our mouth is totally clean before we go to sleep. But the problem with that is many people are just too tired to floss this late at night, so it doesn’t happen at all. Try flossing after dinner! You’ll still brush your teeth (and maybe even floss again) before heading off to bed, but if you don’t get in another floss, at least this one after dinner time happened! 
3. Make flossing a routine – Once something becomes a non-negotiable, it just happens without much mental fatigue. Does washing your hands after using the toilet feel like a chore? No, it’s just something that you don’t think twice about. It’s a routine. Make flossing a part of your routine and eventually it will just be a thing you do without much thought! Flossing really can be that easy!