Oral Hygiene

The Importance of Flossing

I always find it surprising to see how quickly gingivitis can onset if you don’t do the proper things for a good dental routine. You see, for the longest part of my life, I didn’t floss. I would brush twice a day and we sometimes went to the dentist as kids, but for the most part, I would never floss at all. And not flossing at all allows a decent amount of plaque to build up in between my teeth. And everytime I would visit the dentist, lo and behold, they would say that I needed to floss everyday. They could tell just by looking at my teeth that I hadn’t been flossing.

So, about a year ago I started to floss more. I think I realized it was a part of my life that I was lacking on, and so I decided to fix the problem. And I did fix it. Within a month of beginning, I noticed far less bleeding when brushing my teeth in general. My gums felt stronger. My breath smelled better. And my mouth just felt a lot cleaner and healthier in general. It’s just something I noticed throughout the day.

And that was all good and well until about 4 months ago. I got off track and stopped flossing, all because I ran out of flossing picks. For that time, I was torn (and ultimately lazy) about getting more flossing picks or if I should learn to use traditional floss. More picks meant more plastic waste, which I’ve been trying to avoid in general this year. I struggled with this for a few months and kept putting it off and putting it off.

And so I finally, I had my partner pick up some from the store the other day. Because I knew that my dental health mattered more than my ideals in this situation here and now, but it’s got me back on track in flossing at least once a day. And it honestly already feels better that I’m doing it.

So, I’m excited to see my gums go back to healthy in a month or so. I’m excited to have jumped back on the flossing train, if at least for the future of my oral health. And a few unexpected perks came of it as well. My partner has complimented me on my smile, and I’ve felt a lot better about what I’m doing, feeling more convicted in taking care of my health.