What’s the point of flossing your teeth when you brush with an electric toothbrush and use mouthwash; surely we are just being fussy? If I thought your mouth would be healthy without the added faff of doing all the other bits me and my hygienist team it would be easy unfortunately the body doesn’t understand this.
The point of flossing is not to remove bits of food, although it obviously can. The point is to remove plaque (bacteria) the new phrase for this in the dental world is ‘biofilm’, it’s a sort of slime of bacteria suspended in a sugary gel that they feed on. When this bacteria layer builds up it has two effects:
- It produces acid. This dissolves the enamel of the tooth. The more frequently you eat something that has sugar in it, the more sugary gel the bacteria have to feed on, the more bacteria will grow and produce more acid to dissolve the enamel. If this happens too much it will form a cavity where the bacteria grow and eventually this will go deep into the tooth and it will crumble or break, or get deep enough so it goes to the nerve and it will cause that to be painful and result in an abscess.
- The bacteria in the biofilm lie against the gum and irritate it. If it is there for more than 24 hours it starts to cause the gums to become inflamed – they go red, will bleed if you touch them – even with a toothbrush and can look swollen. Most people’s gums don’t hurt when they get like this.
When bacteria stay in the mouth and grow they grow different types, some are more likely to cause decay, some gum disease, the longer it stays there the more likely it is to become nasty and cause disease. Also people with gum inflammation are more likely to have diseases like heart, lung and breast cancer – but that’s for another blog.
Some people are susceptible to gum disease, its roughly between 10-15% of the population but we can’t always tell in advance who will get it although some will be more prone – see another blog on that.
If you are susceptible then not only will your gums get inflamed but the bone underneath will be dissolved away over time, usually the first you know is teeth become loose, by then it’s well on its way.
This all sounds very dramatic and alarming. But the good news is to prevent all of this happening if you get rid of all the bacteria from your mouth once a day thoroughly then all of this can be prevented (with a sensible diet). It only needs to be once a day, although twice a day is nicer for everyone else as breeding bacteria can get a bit smelly. Getting rid of the bacteria thoroughly is a skill and that is what we spend a lot of time trying to help you to get. If you are really good at it you will need less dentistry done – yes it does mean we do ourselves out of work but I would far rather help people to have a beautiful healthy smile than watch someone’s mouth crumble over years and keep repairing it.
Cleaning involves a really good technique with a (preferably electric) toothbrush, this will clean the top of the teeth the sides as long as you have it far enough towards the gum and at the right angle. But and this is the important bit- the bit where most of the decay and gum disease starts is between the teeth and there is no toothbrush that can get in there. Because biofilm is a gel, mouthwash tends to wash over the top of it, (think water and jelly). So the only way to keep the biofilm away is to get in there with something – now what you use will depend on your mouth and your dexterity. Floss works but is only one of the things you could use, (tape is just wider floss and easier to use). Bottle brushes of varying sizes work really well, floss on a long handle etc, any or a combination of these will work. The important thing is to be effective in what you do, if you can’t get into one area that area is never being cleaned and that means it’s a real breeding ground for some nasty bacteria. That’s why we spend so much time with the hygienist showing you and practicing the techniques. Hygienists can also remove the hard deposits (tartar – correct name is calculus). This is biofilm that has picked up minerals from saliva and calcified – bit like scale in a kettle. Once this is on it’s too hard to brush off. She can remove this, get rid of the biofilm and give you a clean slate to practice your new found skills for a healthy sweet smelling mouth.
