Flossing too hard or vigorously can eventually cause damage to the gum tissues and the enamel of the teeth. In short, if done incorrectly, flossing can actually harm your oral health.
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.
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).
If you floss too far down below the gumline or too forcefully, your gums may bleed. It's important to rinse your mouth after you floss. This helps remove plaque and residue scraped free from teeth.
Dentists warn that flossing more than once a day can cause serious damage to your gum tissue—if you are flossing the wrong way. Flossing too harshly too often can harm the gum line and expose more of your tooth's root.
Forcing the floss in between the teeth causes the floss to snap down and cut your gums. Not only is this painful, but it can cause the gums to recede overtime and create—you guessed it—gaps in between your teeth.
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.
So if your teeth feel loose after flossing or with braces, it can be due to untreated gum disease or poor oral hygiene. However, having a wobbly tooth doesn't necessarily mean you have severe underlying gum disease, and you'll eventually lose your permanent teeth.
Your Gums Shouldn't Bleed When You Floss
It should be a gentle motion moving it up and down along the sides of each tooth. The aim is to clean the areas a toothbrush can miss, not just pulling the floss back and forth and irritating the gumline.
While flossing, you will want to gently move the floss around each tooth and should not touch the gums. Moving the floss in the opposite direction of the gum line can help decrease the risk hitting the gums while you floss.
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.
The biggest mistake most people make when flossing is to “snap” it up and down between their teeth. This aggressive method can actually harm the gums, rather than help them. What's better, is to wrap the floss snuggly around the tooth in a “C” shape.
Never put physical pressure on your gums with the floss. 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.
Forcing Floss Between Teeth
If you have two teeth that sit tightly together in your mouth, you should avoid forcing a piece of floss between the small space. If you force or snap the floss into the congested area, the floss can cut your gums, resulting in bleeding and sore gums.
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.
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.
Recently, one of our patients asked us if flossing can straighten crooked teeth. Unfortunately, the answer is no. The purpose of flossing is to remove plaque and food debris in between your teeth. Floss can take care of the debris that your toothbrush missed but you can't count on it to straighten your teeth.
Yes, but it depends on the reason the tooth is loose. If a tooth is loose because of gum disease, it might tighten back up with consistent and proper dental hygiene. A deep cleaning with a hygienist called Scaling & Root Planing is typically the best treatment option.
Why Do Gums Hurt After Flossing? If your gums hurt after flossing specifically, then there might be an issue with how you floss. Some people floss with too much pressure, which can cause pain and bleeding along the gum line. Pain after flossing is also a sign that you're not flossing often enough.
Researchers have found modest benefits from flossing in small clinical studies. For instance, an analysis of 12 well-controlled studies found that flossing plus toothbrushing reduced mild gum disease, or gingivitis, significantly better than toothbrushing alone.
By flossing regularly for three to ten days, your body will adapt to the irritation and the gum tissue will begin to toughen. After roughly a week, your gums should stop bleeding.
A water flosser can help remove food particles between teeth. It also can remove plaque from teeth. If you use standard dental floss, and you don't have bleeding or other problems, there's no need to change.
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.
Periodontal pockets are a symptom of periodontitis (gum disease), a serious oral infection. Periodontal pockets can be treated and reversed with good oral hygiene or with dental treatment.