For optimal oral health, flossing should be your new favorite thing, but when it comes to figuring out how to do it, you don’t have to choose; using both a water flosser and traditional floss together is the best way to get the most benefit from your oral hygiene routine. It’s okay to have your preferences–new-age oral irrigator or old-school string–but it’s just as important to make sure flossing is part of your daily dental care and not a substitute for regular cleaning. No matter which way you like to floss, trust the health of your smile to Norman Smile Center.
Both water flossers and traditional string floss are effective methods for flossing your teeth, and most experts agree that the best results come from using them together to augment your oral hygiene routine. Regardless of the products you use, flossing should be done at least once a day, and it should not be a substitute for routine care and dental cleanings.
Flossing is a low-risk, convenient, and inexpensive way to improve your oral health and prevent future dental health complications. People who floss tend to experience fewer cavities, less instances of periodontal disease, and a greater likelihood of retaining their teeth even as they age.
However, a short walk down the oral hygiene aisle is an inundation of flossing products in a plethora of models, flavors, sizes, and types—including water flossers and traditional string floss—all promising to give you more pearly whites. So how do you know you’re choosing the right one?
“Flossing makes a big difference,” says Dr. Kristen Campbell, DDS, of Norman Smile Center in Norman, Oklahoma. “But it doesn’t matter how you do it, just that you do it.”
And whether it’s a water flosser or standard floss, the best flossing product, she says, is the one you’ll use.
The Fundamentals of Flossing
According to the American Dental Association, interdental cleaning like flossing (or water flossing) is an important part of a good oral hygiene routine. Interdental cleaning helps to remove food debris and trapped particles from your mouth, as well as interproximal dental plaque, or plaque that accumulates between teeth. This helps minimize gum bleeding and sensitivity and reduce your chances of developing gingivitis or gum disease.
Brushing your teeth isn’t enough to remove plaque, and even the best toothbrushes can’t clean food particles from hard-to-reach places like between your teeth or below the gumline.
For proper interdental cleaning, you have to floss.
Flossing with standard or traditional floss does this by dislodging debris and food particles that are trapped between teeth and gently scraping the surfaces of the teeth to remove built-up plaque. There are a wide variety of flossing products and tools, including waxed, non-waxed, flavored, and even floss picks or holders.
Flossing with a water flosser or WaterPik uses a pressurized stream of water to remove food debris, trapped particles, and plaque. Water flossers are available in an array of models, such as countertop, cordless, or portable models, as all as combination water flosser and toothbrush.
Interdental cleaning can also be accomplished with interdental brushes, picks, or sticks designed to clean between teeth.
However, when it comes to flossing, the method you use isn’t nearly as important as the frequency. The ADA recommends cleaning between your teeth at least once a day and brushing twice a day, supplemented by regular dental cleanings and checkups from a dental professional every six months.
What Happens When You Don’t Floss
Trapped food particles and plaque that are not removed from your teeth will eventually lead to a cascade of effects including decay, cavities, gingivitis, gum disease, halitosis (bad breath), and more.
Here’s how.
The Progression of Plaque
Your mouth is full of billions of bacteria, many of them good so long as they stay within balance. However, when bacteria begin to feed on the residual sugars and starches that are left in your mouth after eating and drinking, they start to multiply and produce an acidic substance called plaque. The plaque creates a sticky film of bacteria over the teeth, and if it isn’t removed, it starts to accumulate and erode the tooth enamel, setting the stage for tartar and tooth decay.
The Toll of Tartar
If it’s allowed to stay on your teeth, plaque will eventually calcify into tartar, a hard mineral deposit that forms on the teeth and can only be removed by a dental professional. Tartar makes brushing and cleaning your teeth more difficult, contributes to cavities, and can irritate the gum tissue, causing it to swell or bleed in a condition known as gingivitis. (Gingivitis is also the first stage of gum disease.) As the gingivitis advances into gum disease, it will require more intensive treatments or therapies to correct, such as periodontal therapy, dental deep cleaning, or root planing and scaling.
Flossing—whether traditional flossing or water flossing—preserves your oral health in two ways:
- It removes food particles before the bacteria in your mouth can begin feeding on it
- It removes any plaque that has started to accumulate, before it hardens into tartar.
Flossing helps keep tartar buildup under control and prevents the development of gingivitis and gum disease.
Traditional Floss vs Water Flosser: Which is Better?
While there is some evidence that water flossers are more effective at removing plaque than traditional flossing, most experts agree that it is a matter of both/and, not either/or. By integrating both standard flossing and water flossing into your oral hygiene routine, you’re likely to remove more plaque and food debris than using only one or the other—or than not flossing at all. String floss can help you remove larger food particles and debris while the water flosser can help remove fine particles the floss (and your toothbrush) may have left behind, and both will effectively remove plaque.
There are some instances, however, when one may work better or be more effective than the other. For example, water flossers may be your first choice if you have:
- Braces
- Nonremovable bridgework
- Crowns
- Dental implants
- Deep periodontal pockets
- Other dental or orthodontic work that makes it difficult to use standard floss
- Difficulty flossing by hand
- Gum sensitivity or bleeding
While they can’t replicate the scraping motion of standard flossing to remove plaque, water flossers can be used in these scenarios to reach areas of the mouth that are hard to clean with string floss, and the stream of water can be easier to control for people who don’t have the dexterity or ability to manipulate string floss.
No matter what your oral health situation is, flossing should be a regular addition to your oral hygiene routine, but neither traditional nor water flossing are intended to be a substitute for regular brushing or visits to the dentist for a professional cleaning.
Recommended Flossing Products from the Professionals at Norman Smile Center
At Norman Smile Center, we understand that the best flossing practice and products for you are the ones you’ll actually use, and we also understand that people (including our very own dentists, dental hygienists, and staff) have their preferences.
Here are some of our favorites for flossing:
- Waterpik Sonic Fusion 2.0 Professional Flossing Toothbrush
- Waterpik Cordless Pearl Rechargeable Portable Water Flosser
- Waterpik Cordless Advanced Water Flosser
- CocoFloss Woven Dental Floss
- Oral-B Glide Pro-Health Dental Floss
- Reach Listerine Ultraclean Access Flosser
- Platypus Orthodontic Flossers for Braces
- GUM Sunstar Proxabrush Go-Between Cleaners
You can also see our favorites for toothbrushes, toothpastes, mouthrinses, and more here!
When looking for any type of oral hygiene product, including floss or water flossing products, it’s important to look for the ADA seal, an assurance that the product you are considering purchasing has been evaluated for safety and efficacy in the removal or reduction of plaque and gingivitis.
Find Your Healthiest Smile at Norman Smile Center
At Norman Smile Center, you’ll find a friendly staff of highly trained dental professionals whose only goal is to help you achieve your best oral health. From routine cleanings and advanced diagnostic imaging technology to comprehensive restorative treatment plans and cosmetic dentistry, Norman Smile Center delivers the best in affordable dental care to patients of all ages in and around the Norman area.
It’s never too late to start taking better care of your oral health. Whether you’re new to flossing or ready to improve your current routine, the team at Norman Smile Center can help. Schedule an appointment today!