You ought to do this delicately as opposed to being excessively forceful, or you'll end up with bleeding or harming your gums. After you slide the floss between your teeth, you should bend it around the tooth and let it plunge beneath the gum line (in a perfect world, it should plunge around 2 – 3 millimeters down).
Guide the floss between your teeth using a gentle, rubbing motion. Never snap the floss into the gums. When the floss reaches the gum line, curve it into a C shape against one tooth. Gently slide it into the space between the gum and the tooth.
When you floss, you want to be careful to avoid using too much downward pressure so you don't damage your gums. However, when you are flossing against the side of a tooth, you want to make sure that you are pushing the floss against the tooth surface enough to be able to remove the plaque.
Your Gums Shouldn't Bleed When You Floss
Other than seeing a little blood initially if it's been a while, proper technique is designed to remove plaque from the sides of teeth and not to torture the gum tissue! It should be a gentle motion moving it up and down along the sides of each tooth.
Since flossing can only reach 2-3 millimeters under the edges of your gum tissues, you need something that can safely clean deeper under those pockets. That's exactly what water flossing does and in a gentle manner.
How to Know If You Are Flossing Too Hard. There is a fine line between applying healthy pressure on the floss to get it down into the pocket below the gum line. If you are flossing to the point you are making your gums bleed, you are causing damage to the gums.
Flossing Can Cause Gum Recession – When trying to pull the floss through the spaces between the teeth, some people may pull too hard causing the floss to violently pull on the gum tissue. This may allow the floss to go beneath the gum line, causing bleeding, gum recession, and even gum disease.
While many people put pressure against the gums to get debris, they don't use pressure when running the floss against the tooth. However, you want to add gentle pressure to “scrape” the floss against the tooth, removing plaque that has collected between the teeth.
If you're not flossing regularly, your dentist will likely be able to tell by looking at your teeth and gums. They may also ask you questions about your oral care routine to better understand how often you're actually flossing.
Yes, the Dentist Knows
They'll be able to detect the plaque and inflammation between your teeth even if you brushed and flossed right before you went in for your appointment. If you haven't been flossing, prepare yourself for a friendly and concerned lecture from your dental care provider.
There is no need to pull the floss at the level of your gum tissue. If your gums aren't healthy, they may bleed, or you can experience pain. If you regularly put pressure on your gums with floss, you could create lasting damage in the tissue in the form of a furrow or cleft. Don't risk it.
It's OK to move the floss back and forth gently to ease it in between your teeth. But, once it's in, don't ever “saw” or “snap” it into place. Being too rough can irritate your gums and make them bleed.
Any general dentist will tell you, flossing incorrectly can irritate gums and cause gum recession. But skipping the floss takes an essential element out of oral hygiene. It's a low-risk, easy habit that prevents one of the most serious oral health issues: periodontal disease.
In cases where a person has dental problems, like gingivitis etc., floss can actually aggravate the problems. There have been cases where floss has pushed plaque and debris deeper into the gums or cavities and caused further damage.
Takeaways for Flossing Too Hard
Forcing the floss against the gums or the teeth and using too much pressure can hurt the gums and ever wear away the enamel over time. Of course, it should be done with some pressure, but not excessive pressure and it can be tricky to get it right the first few times you begin.
The simple answer is, no. If your gums are damaged by, for example periodontitis, the most severe form of gum disease, it's not possible for receding gums to grow back. However, even though receding gums can't be reversed there are treatments that can help to stop the problem from getting worse.
Gently shimmy the floss down as far as it will go below the gum, rubbing the teeth with the floss. The white stuff that you find on the floss, is a colony of bacteria you have just disrupted. As soon as you're done, they'll start their process of rebuilding. That's why daily is important.
Along with brushing and flossing, using mouthwash kills this bacteria before it can wreak havoc on your oral health. Your toothbrush and floss can go a long way toward cleaning in and around your teeth, but mouthwash can clean the crevices and tight spaces in your mouth that brushing and flossing miss.
I've heard there isn't much evidence that shows flossing is effective. Does that mean it's ok to skip flossing? The short answer is no. Cleaning all sides of your teeth, including between your teeth where the toothbrush can't reach, is a good thing.
Sensitive Teeth
Tooth sensitivity doesn't just affect you when you're eating hot or cold foods. If you have tooth sensitivity, brushing and flossing may occasionally cause you to wince in pain. Your teeth may become more sensitive when your enamel, or the protective layer on your teeth wear away and dentin is exposed.
If your teeth and gums are healthy and you are flossing properly and according to your dentist's instructions, you should not experience any pain. Therefore, if you notice sensitivity, bleeding, swelling, or discomfort after flossing, it's a sign that you need to change something and/or seek professional help.
When gums have been exposed to bacteria-containing plaque for long periods of time, it can cause them to become inflamed. How flossing affects your gums is to help clear away the cause of the inflammation so that your gums can heal and become healthy again. As your gums get healthier, they'll bleed less.
Some enthusiastic flossers use a saw-like motion to get their teeth as clean as possible. This improper flossing method can wear through the tooth's enamel and can even result in periodontal bone loss in very extreme cases. Flossing improperly can cause your teeth to become loose and fall out.
Can you reverse early gum disease? When gum disease is caught early, it is easiest to treat. Properly brushing and flossing on a daily basis can help to reverse early gum disease in as little as 30 days.
Run the floss up and down the surface of the tooth, making sure you are going down to the gum line and then up to the highest contact point between the teeth. Apply pressure with your fingers away from the gum triangle, letting it curve around the side of the tooth forming the letter “C” with the floss.