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.
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).
Floss slightly below the gum line until you feel resistance, then stop. Again, do not press so hard or floss so fast that flossing hurts and/or cuts your gum tissue but by all means, move the floss below the gumline. It is important to not neglect this area because harmful bacteria resides there.
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. Floss is not a band-aid, it won't erase a cavity.
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.
Effects of Flossing Too Hard
With hard flossing over time, your gums will begin to recede. Once this happens, you'll start to experience tooth pain due to the areas of the tooth being exposed can have thin enamel. With extreme cases, the root of the tooth can be exposed causing even further tooth pain.
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.
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.
Some home remedies for swollen and sore gums include: Gently flossing and brushing to clean the area. Rinsing mouth with saltwater to get rid of bacteria. Applying warm compresses to reduce gum pain.
Oftentimes, many people don't think this area needs to be flossed, however it is important to floss behind the molars, as well as in between all the teeth. Additionally, the sides of each tooth should be carefully flossed in addition to the gum line.
This can happen when dental floss is forcefully rubbed or accidentally snapped against the gum tissue. While flossing, you will want to gently move the floss around each tooth and should not touch the gums.
Small pieces of excess filling material, called flash can become dislodged and create an edge that tears at the floss fibers. The solution to this problem is to have a dentist smooth out or (in more drastic situations) replace the filling, creating a more anatomically correct shape.
When you floss too hard, it should be very clear to you because you will see some bleeding and afterward your gums will be tender. If you are consistently flossing too hard, eventually, the bleeding will stop as your gums start to adjust but you will feel some soreness and discomfort after.
If you have tartar break off while flossing, it will look like a small chunk of yellowish tooth. Depending on where it was located, you may be able to see the rest of the calculus bridge with a missing piece, looking like a slightly chipped tooth. Make sure that it is tartar and not a tooth or filling.
To get beneath the gum line, gently curve the floss around the base of each tooth. To prevent cutting or bruising your gums, do not snap or force the floss. Make sure to use a clean section of floss as you move to different teeth.
When gums swell around a single tooth in this way, it usually indicates an infection. This is called an abscessed tooth, and it can be very painful. If left untreated, it is possible for the infection to spread, leading to more serious dental problems.
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. Using an antimicrobial mouthwash can also be beneficial.
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.
Swollen and inflamed gums can lead to gum disease, which requires treatment. In some cases, the pain may simply be caused by flossing too hard or too often. If this is the case, you can try to floss more gently or reduce the number of times you floss each day.
There are some advantages of flossing at night rather than the morning. Flossing at night will remove any plaque between your teeth that has been built up over the course of the day. This can make your teeth feel cleaner and fresher when you wake up in the morning than they would with just brushing alone.
Yes, the Dentist Knows
Obviously, your dentist will be able to tell if your habit of not flossing has led to cavities between your teeth. However, even if the problem hasn't reached that point yet, your dentist and dental hygienist will still be able to tell in a second whether you've been flossing.
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.
While it may be surprising, a study has found that flossing first followed by brushing with a fluoride toothpaste is more effective in removing interdental plaque than brushing first, flossing second. In addition, flossing before brushing results in greater fluoride retention between teeth.
"Tight teeth" are very closely spaced, leaving little room in between each of them. This can make flossing very difficult, painful, and frustrating with a lot of floss broken halfway through. Luckily, there are a few tricks that can ease the struggle that flossing with tight teeth tends to pose.