Cavity Prevention: Why Flossing Is Essential

We understand that you may have a complicated relationship with flossing your smile and, as a result, with your dental hygiene. When you’re pressed for time or very tired, this step can feel like an “extra” task that you have to accomplish. When you’re in a good mood and have all the time in the world, this step may feel like a wonderful gift, since a completely clean mouth is always something to smile about! While it would be nice to make preventive care choices based on emotion, protecting your smile is all about facts. The primary facts, of course, being that you need to brush and you need to floss to keep your smile healthy. Let’s explore the “why” regarding your need to floss.

It Removes Cavity-Causing Factors

Plain and simple, flossing is absolutely essential because it rids your mouth of the problem-causing factors that lead to cavities. And gum inflammation and disease. And bad breath. And even infection that can occur as the result of long-term poor dental hygiene. Are you starting to see the correlation here? Plaque is the number one cause of hygiene-related illnesses like decay. Removing it from between your teeth is going to greatly increase your odds of keeping such problems out of your mouth (and out of your life) for good.

Your Brush Isn’t Thorough On Its Own

Of course, there’s always the question about brushing one’s teeth. Certainly a toothbrush wielded quite well should be able to remove sufficient plaque and leftover morsels of food, right? Actually, this part of your dental hygiene session does a wonderful job of removing plaque and debris from every surface of your teeth except for the tiny surface areas between them. While efforts in slipping toothbrush bristles between teeth are admirable, they will not provide you with successful plaque protection.