Gum Disease

Dental floss. Whoever invented it is both a genius and a common frustration.

Although there are many ways to clean between teeth, floss is the most common tool promoted by dentists. Yet, how many people actually floss every day?

In college at UC Davis, I spent one year in the dorms, as most freshman do. The guys and girls each had separate common bathrooms in my dormitory. As a result, I got to see first hand the oral hygiene habits of many male college guys, and one thing was obvious: male college freshman don’t floss. To be more specific, I never ever observed one of my classmates flossing in the bathroom. Tooth brushing, yes; flossing, no. Yuck!

I guess I shouldn’t complain. As a profession, dentists are kept in business by this behavior. Typically, a person who does not floss will develop cavities between his teeth by the time he is a teenager. At that time, a dentist will place a few fillings, then the young adult is typically ok for a few more years. By the time he makes it to college, he’s already had six or seven fillings, and is well on his way to a mouth full of fillings. Unfortunately, our culture views this as normal. “I just have soft teeth.” Or more commonly, “My parents have dentures, so I will too.”

And yet, it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, if a person begins flossing on a daily basis (yes every day), that person will likely never develop a new cavity… ever! Sure, he or she may need to have old fillings replaced, but no new cavities are going to develop.

If you need more convincing, let’s look at the benefit of flossing from a financial perspective. One or two fillings every year for ten years might add up to a down payment on a new car!

And how about little kids? Do they need to floss, too? The answer is simple: yes! If your child has teeth that are touching, those teeth need to be flossed. But here’s the tricky part: kids, even older kids, may have difficulty flossing on their own. So as a parent, you may need to help your child clean his or her teeth with floss for several years, or longer.

So in conclusion, floss!

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