Flossing Prevents Tooth Cavity And Gum Disease

Since I was a child I had bad teeth. Going to the dentist and hearing that I have cavities was nothing unusual. I already was scared weeks in advance. As I grow up the beginning of the early seventies in Germany, nobody told you to floss your teeth. You brushed your teeth fast in few minutes twice a day (sometimes only once :-) when you were tired in the evening or late in the morning). I know it sounds bad but that was nothing unusual.

Oral health was something they taught you once or twice a year in school. Then you had to brush your teeth and they gave you a tooth brush and tooth paste for home and that's it.

For years and years my dentist found cavities whenever I visited him. It was horrible. But he never really spoke about how I properly should brush my teeth. After I was around in my end twenties the cavities stopped. Then in the beginning of my thirties I could see the first little signs of gum disease but I really wasn't concerned. At the end of my thirties I moved to the United States of America and my dental hygienist recommended to start flossing my teeth. I did this successfully up to two years ago as my gum disease increased a lot. Within few weeks my gums developed from a gingivitis with very little signs to a horrible periodontal disease that became unstoppable and ended up in a soft gum tissue grafting operation.

After this operation I found out that flossing immense influences tooth cavity and gum disease. My periodontist educated me that when you start as a young child and get used to floss your teeth properly twice a day, you can prevent having cavities or gum disease. Because bacteria doesn't have the chance to build up and you have beautiful teeth and gums your whole life. And don't have to spend thousands of dollars for tooth and gum treatments.

One of my friends told me that her six year old daughter already has several cavities and her dentist recommended to floss her little baby teeth. My friend sees it as a waste of time, especially because the real teeth will still come in. Bacteria developed in baby teeth is no different than the bacteria developed in adult teeth. Flossing not only can prevent more cavities but future gum diseases.

There are several floss types available in the dental market. The ones I have the best experience with are the ones without wax (the wax ones glide too fast and could hurt the gums) and the thicker types (if the type is too thin it also can hurt the gums if your flesh is very sensitive and could start bleeding).

So flossing your and your kids teeth is not only a great prevention for cavities but also for gum diseases and heart diseases.