Why Floss
Flossing can help remove plaque, food build-up between the teeth, reduce the risk of gingivitis, gum disease, and reduce the risk of tooth decay.
Flossing techniques
Use a piece of dental floss which is approximately 20-25 cm long.
Tie both ends to make a loop.
Use the thumbs and the forefingers of both hands to hold the floss, leaving about 2 cm of floss in between.
Use a sawing motion to slide the floss into the interdental space.
Wrap around one tooth making a "C" shape and gently pull down to the deepest part of the gingival sulcus, and then slide it up and down against the tooth.
Then wrap around the adjacent tooth and repeat the up and down motions.
Clean all the other adjacent tooth surfaces in the same way.
When to floss?
The recommendations for brushing is twice a day.
However there is no ideal time to floss - whenever individuals find time to floss properly it can be done.
During sleep, both saliva flow and teeth protection reduce, hence flossing during night or once in 24 hours is a good option.