Tips to Making Flossing Your Teeth a Habit

Proper Oral Care

Researchers have found that people with gum disease are almost twice as likely to suffer from heart disease. One of the main theories says that the bacteria from your mouth enters the blood stream, it can contribute to clot formation, which may lead to a heart attack.

Well no matter what the research says, not flossing your teeth is not attractive. Have you ever seen someone who had a buildup of plaque in between their teeth (I remember in high school we used to call it ‘butter”)? Not cute at all.

Let me share with you some tips to help you make flossing a habit and a part of your daily routine.

Identify Any Invisible Barriers

An invisible barrier is something that keeps you from doing something. Here are a few invisible barriers that may be preventing you from flossing daily:

  • it's painful or time-consuming because your teeth are spaced really close together
  • you're tired and ready to go to bed, so you don't floss (place your floss somewhere prominent)
  • you don't know how to floss (watch a video)
  • you don't have any floss (buy some at your local Target)

Options for Flossing

“Back when I was a young girl,” our flossing options consisted of floss that your wrapped between your fingers and scraped in-between your teeth. Well, advances in dentistry have created so many options – other than the traditional method – to fit your needs:

  2. Disposable toothpick-like dental stimulators.
  3. Narrow Spiral Brushes.
  4. Water Flosser. Now this one is interesting and was actually recommended to me by my dentist. A water flosser squirts water in-between your teeth, removing plaque in the process. I'm actually thinking about trying this out, but my inner critic is calling me lazy (she says: “really, Yolanda, really? You can't find 5 minutes to floss each night before going to bed?”).


Create a Routine

Routines and checklists are a great way to ensure that things you want to do consistently gets done. Update your evening ritual to include flossing. Don't have an evening ritual? Create one and include things such as washing your face, reading for pleasure for 30 minutes, bushing and flossing your teeth, etc. I love how my mouth feels when I drink a cold glass of water after brushing and flossing.

Final Words

So maybe you're like me, you know you need to floss each day, but you don't do it. Regardless the reason, take care of your gums.

Question: What you're preferred method of floss, toothpaste, and toothbrush? Are you a mint or gel kind of person?

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