When used in conjunction with twice daily brushing, a water flosser can improve your dental hygiene routine by removing debris from between your teeth. Flossing is an often-neglected but very important part of your oral care because it enables you to clean below the gum line in other parts of your mouth that your toothbrush can’t access. Let’s take a look at some really important water flosser benefits for your dental hygiene.
Why Flossing Is So Important For Dental Care
Brushing twice a day only does so much for your oral hygiene. If you want to remove plaque and debris from between your teeth and below the gum line, you need to floss as well. But so many people neglect this very important step of dental hygiene.
And, it’s difficult to understand why because only a small proportion of the population has problems with their hands that prevent them from using string floss. If flossing wasn’t a habit your parents introduced you to at an early age, it’s probable that it’s not something that’s proven important to you as you have got older.
Remember that untreated tooth decay is one of the leading causes of tooth loss, and there are plenty of spaces inside your mouth that are difficult to see and inaccessible by your toothbrush. Flossing is a necessity to keep your mouth fresh, clean and free of dental decay.
What Are Water Flossers?
Fortunately water flossers can make daily flossing that much easier and more effective by making use of technology. Water flossers direct jets of water at your teeth to clean them. Also known as an oral irrigator, a flosser sprays water with enough force to clean the spaces between your teeth.
Water Flosser Benefits
Yes, a water flosser benefits your dental care in many ways, especially if you wear braces or suffer from gum disease. But water flosser benefits are not limited to these two groups – they can benefit anyone.
Water Flossers Improve Oral Hygiene
Your toothbrush can’t reach everywhere in your mouth, especially between your teeth and below your gum line. A flosser can make sure that you remove as much plaque as possible.
Water Flossers Make It Easier For People Who Wear Orthodontics
Dental floss can be a challenge for patients who wear braces and orthodontic devices – so much so that people may avoid flossing altogether. If you wear braces it’s essential that you do everything you can to avoid tooth decay, and an oral irrigator can help you to do just that.
Water Flossers Are Gentler
If you haven’t perfected your flossing technique or you don’t do it often enough you might find that string floss causes your gums to bleed. Using a flosser is a much gentler way to manage gum sensitivity while keeping your mouth clean as it does not cause inflammation or irritation.
Get A Deeper Clean
A water flosser can penetrate deeper into periodontal pockets and holes, making them a more reliable way of cleaning than string floss. This is ideal for patients who may already have developed gum disease and need deeper cleaning in their dental hygiene routine. Similarly the deeper cleaning may help patients who don’t have gum disease and cavities reduce their risk of developing it.
It is the pressure of the water that is emitted, that enables the jets of water to clean below the gum line.
It’s Better For The Environment
A water flosser is reusable and does not generate the same amount of plastic waste as string floss, which needs to be replaced on a regular basis.
It’s Quick And Easy
Modern technology does the work for you when you use an oral irrigator, and any challenges you may have experienced using string floss no longer apply with water flossers. If you think using water to floss your teeth could make a mess, this component of your dental care is easy enough to use while you are having a shower.
Take Better Care Of Dental Implants
In the days following a dental implant procedure, you need to keep the surgical site clean but also exercise care around the area. Using an oral irrigator enables you to do this, without risk to your dental implant.
Disadvantages Of A Water Flosser
It wouldn’t be a balanced article if we didn’t mention any of the disadvantages of oral irrigators for your dental care along with the water flosser benefits, so here are some that you may want to know about before you purchase one.
They Cost More Than String Floss
Your initial outlay will be higher for an oral irrigator than it will be for strong floss but you won’t have to buy another for a while.
You Need Water And Power
In order for your water flosser to work properly, you need access to water and power – either batteries or electricity for your flosser to work.
They Take Up More Space Than String Floss
A package of string floss takes up a little space in your bathroom cabinet but an oral irrigator requires a lot more room.
Ultimately an oral irrigator can make caring for your teeth much easier and help you keep plaque and tartar under control. Certainly if you use string floss and haven’t had any problems, do not wear braces and do not need dental implants, you should continue to use it. If however, you are not flossing at all because you can’t use string floss or have an impediment that makes it uncomfortable, an oral irrigator would be a suitable way to improve your dental hygiene.
If you’re ready to experience water flosser benefits first hand or have any questions about your dental hygiene it’s always best to seek professional advice. Please contact us for a convenient appointment: (02) 8806 3799.
