So you think flossing isn’t important huh? If flossing is not part of your daily routine, then 

I have some news for you – you are going to die from mouth cancer at a very early age. Okay, that may have been a slight exaggeration, but I had to do something to grab your attention. Here is the deal; a lot of people feel like brushing your teeth is good enough to keep your dental hygiene in good shape. However, brushing your teeth is actually just the bare minimum, and you should be doing more than just brushing if you want to ensure that you are taking care of your dental hygiene. Flossing should actually be a routine part of your day everyday, and there are no ands, ifs, or butts when it comes to flossing. This is 2021, and simply brushing your teeth twice a day is no longer enough. Especially if you are living in the United States, where our diet is overstuffed with sugar and high fructose corn syrup, you are going to want to be doing a lot more than just brushing your teeth in order to keep your teeth and gums in their best condition. I put together a quick list of reasons why you should be regularly flossing your teeth so that you will hopefully take my advice and stop ignoring your very at-risk dental hygiene habits.

So the first thing you need to know about why flossing is important is that the tooth has 5 different services, and that brushing only gets to 3 of them. Think about your teeth for a moment. Maybe open up your phone camera or go over to a mirror to even look at them. Notice how the cracks between your teeth are unreachable for your toothbrush. Do you think that plaque and tartar will just magically stay away from these areas, simply because you’re too lazy to regularly floss your teeth here? The answer is no. In order to reach all 5 surfaces on the tooth, you need to floss. When food gets stuck in the gaps between your teeth, it can lead to plaque and tartar building up – this can cause tooth decay if untreated for too long. That’s why flossing is important, because you can get into these hard-to-reach places and make sure there is no breeding ground for bacteria!

Another thing that can happen when you decide to not floss your teeth is that you can develop gum disease. That’s right – it is true that plaque and bacteria can build up easily in the spaces between your teeth. If you are not regularly flossing, they can stay in there for too long and become infected or eat away at your gum tissue, which is extremely uncomfortable I have heard. So please listen to me and start flossing your teeth. In addition to taking better care of yourself, flossing your teeth will also impress the dentist, and you can for once feel like someone is proud of you for something in your life. I’m sure that that feeling will also improve your mental health as well. What’s not to love about flossing?

And just in case you are wondering, the best time to floss your teeth is at night right before you go to bed. Dentists recommend flossing before you brush your teeth at night.