Do you know that brushing two times a day doesn’t guarantee a total oral health? It doesn’t matter how long you brush and how good your brush is, you might still be prone to gum diseases if you do not take extra measures to keep your mouth healthy. A complete oral health is guaranteed with the additional benefits of flossing. Flossing at least every two days ensures that foods remnant caught in-between your teeth in places where your brush cannot reach are totally removed.
What Then Is Flossing?
Flossing is an activity that involves using a floss to clean in between your teeth and gumline. This helps to remove plaque and food particles stuck there. It reaches spots where your toothbrush cannot get and encourages an overall dental health.
The act of flossing didn’t just materialize today. The prehistoric men used strands of leaves, twigs, scraped out bark and bone edges to pick out food remnants from their teeth. But modern times, continuous research and product development have made this process easier, healthier and more effective. And so today, we have different options that can satisfy our flossing need.
- Floss pick: It is a disposable devise made of plastic and string floss. It is safer to use and doesn’t require special application like in dental floss. They come as ‘F’ or ‘Y’ shaped objects with a rubber handle and a piece of floss between two edges.
- Dental floss: Dental floss is a thin stringed-like material used for removing plaque and food particles around the teeth and gumline. It requires special application and dexterity by the individual so avoid gum bleeding and because of this, most people avoid it.
- Water flosser: This is an oral irrigator that uses high-pressured water to remove plaques and food particles in-between the teeth. It is often recommended as an alternative to dental flossing because it is easier to perform and gum bleeding is minimized.
- Interdental brushes: This serves as alternative to flossing. Interdental brushes are specially designed with bristle heads to remove plaque and food particles stuck in between the teeth. It comes in various width adopted to fit in the spaces between your teeth.
Having options to choose from doesn’t necessarily make up for our flossing need. This is because each of these options has flaws that can make flossing such a herculean task and defeat its purpose. When this occurs, our ability and zeal to stick to a regular flossing routine is affected which in the long run affects our dental health. How you can decide the best water floss for you is a question that begs an answer.
DECIDING THE BEST FLOSS: Water Flosser Vs Interdental Brushes
It may prove daunting to first time users deciding on the best floss that works for them. However this article is set to shed more light by comparing two popular flossing products and based on their proven advantage and disadvantage decide the best.
- While interdental brushes have bristle that compress and maneuver their way into all nook and cranny of your teeth; but you would have to direct the pulsating water from the tip of the water flosser to target areas of your teeth.
- Interdental brushes come in different sizes to fit the gaps in individual teeth, similarly water flosser have different tips for specialized purposes like plaque removal, gum massage etc.
- If you apply unnecessary pressure to interdental brushes, it might end up giving sores to your gums leading to infections. But there is no such thing with the water flosser; the pulsating effect of the water streaming from the tips gently massages your gums instead.
- In comparison, they are both good options for people with orthodontic works; more effective than dental floss or floss pick.
- Also In terms of cost, interdental brushes are less expensive than water flosser. But take note that they have to be replaced like every three months unlike water flosser that stops working only when the unit goes bad.
- There is also the chance of bacteria build up in interdental brushes since they will be stored and reused. But water flosser involves the use of fresh water and as such the chances of bacteria build up is slim.
- Water flosser can be messy to use, especially if you’ve not mastered it. It also requires you to be close to a sink or basin so that the water can spill out. This is not so with interdental brushes, they are pretty easier to use and do not create a mess.
Our final words:
Given the pros and cons of both flossing methods, we would choose the water flosser because of the long term benefits it offers. The chances of getting a sore gum, bacteria build-up in the teeth and ineffectiveness are highly eliminated with this method.
