At Panoramic Dental, our mission is to help patients throughout Walnut Creek protect their smiles through comprehensive dental care. But the health of your smile depends on more than our in-office treatments, and in addition to brushing twice per day, flossing is foundational to the health of your smile. We believe patient education is vital to dental health, so for this blog, we want to dive into the reasons that flossing is so important to oral hygiene and healthy teeth.
How Flossing Protects Your Teeth
We all know that brushing your teeth is critical to maintaining a healthy smile. That's because brushing with toothpaste acts to scrape away bacteria and plaque, as well as the leftover food particles they transform into cavity-causing acids. But think about it: fundamentally, a toothbrush can't cover the entire tooth. The spaces between teeth are simply too tight for a toothbrush to reach, so brushing alone leaves roughly 30% of tooth surface unprotected.
That's where flossing comes in. Flossing acts to scrub the hidden surfaces of teeth clean, covering tooth surface that's left behind by brushing. It's like painting a house to protect it from rot: if you leave two walls bare, the house is still vulnerable to the elements and at risk of falling down. Flossing 'paints' those remaining two sides, ensuring that every part of the tooth is protected from plaque and bacteria.
But flossing carries another dental health benefit. In addition to scraping the hidden sides of teeth, flossing stimulates the gums, removing bacteria below the gum line and helping to encourage blood flow in the gums. This increased blood flow helps the gums clean and protect themselves, carrying away bacteria from the surface of the gums and providing gum tissue more oxygen to fight bacteria and prevent infections. In this way, flossing does more than protect the health of teeth: it improves the health of your entire mouth and smile.
Contact Your La Morinda Dentist
Flossing is a foundational part of any oral health regimen, which is why flossing on a daily basis is so important to the health of your smile. And as always, if you have more questions about flossing, oral hygiene, or dental health in general, we're here to help. Contact us today to learn more about how you can take better care of your smile or to schedule your next dental checkup at our Walnut Creek, CA dentist's office. We can't wait to hear from you, and we look forward to helping you protect your smile for years to come!