Flossing Daily Can Protect Your Smile

Over time, there has been some debate about whether flossing is an essential part of a daily oral healthcare routine. While flossing may seem a bit inconvenient at times, it provides many benefits that will protect your smile and keep your mouth healthy and clean.

Benefits

There are many important benefits to flossing. Flossing daily helps to:

• remove plaque from tight spaces

• prevent tooth decay

• make brushing more effective

• prevent infection and inflammation

• spread the fluoride in toothpaste to more places in your mouth

• make teeth look brighter

• remove unseen food particles

• prevent gum disease

Brushing and Mouthwash

The benefits listed above cannot be achieved by just brushing or using mouthwash. While they are both good practices that will improve oral health, they cannot replace flossing. Flossing is the only effective way to clean between teeth, which is where many cavities tend to form.

Gum Disease

One of the most important benefits of flossing is that it helps prevent gum disease. Recent research indicates that bacteria and infections found in the mouth can be transferred to other parts of the body, potentially linking gum disease to more serious conditions like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and heart disease. The exact connection between these conditions is still unclear, but it has been proven that people who do not have gum diseases are less likely to suffer from problems like heart disease. Flossing daily not only protects your smile, but your overall health as well.

Daily flossing is an essential part of your oral health and an important contribution to protecting your smile. Please feel free to call or visit Hale Family Dental today if you have any questions or concerns about flossing!