Water flossers have been around for years, but are only recently gaining popularity with patients, dentists, and dental hygienists. Although known for being a little messy at first, shifting to water flossing can have tremendous long-term benefits on your oral health. If you constantly struggle with flossing or don’t do it as often as you should investing in a new water flosser is a great solution.
And your questions answer is:
1. To Clean Periodontal (Gum) Pockets
When it comes to having healthy teeth and gums, there’s one significant advantage to using a water flosser: it reaches down below the gums to clean moderate to severe gum pockets. If you’re someone who has struggled with periodontal disease in the past, this benefit is extremely worthwhile. Since traditional floss can only clean 2-3mm below the gum lines, people who have deeper periodontal pockets may never be able to fully clean their mouth. In turn, they’re more prone to relapse and chronic gum disease, including tooth loss.
2. Hard-to-Reach Spaces Around Teeth
Is there a tight contact somewhere in your mouth, where floss is practically impossible to get between? A water flosser can easily be aimed into that space without having to hassle with any strings shredding, breaking, or getting caught between your teeth.
Sometimes wider areas that pack food easily can also be a challenge to clean. If you tie a knot in your floss or use tufted floss, dragging it through that space might pull the food debris out. Or it might not. But the powerful jet coming from a water flosser is typically more than enough to flush everything out.
3. Underneath Fixed Dental Bridges
Traditional and implant-supported dental bridges are one of the first encounters that people have with hard-to-clean teeth. Since it’s not possible to floss down between those spaces like normal, you have to find other ways (like using a floss threader or proxy brush.) A water flosser can be used alongside your toothbrush to clean around the supporting teeth or implants, as well as under the bridge itself.
4. No Floss Threaders Required
Floss threaders are a needle-shaped plastic tool that’s used to weave dental floss between tight spaces. Such as under orthodontic wires, dental bridges, or where teeth are crowded. The tedious nature of having to thread the floss through each space in your mouth makes it difficult to comply with each day. Especially for someone with multiple dental bridges, braces, or limited dexterity.
6. Thoroughly Clean Under TeethXpress/All-on-4
Full arch dental implant systems like TeethXpress and “All-on-4” treatments feature a fixed, hybrid device that covers the curved arch of your jaw. Since it’s fixed permanently into place, you need a way to clean between the restoration and your gum tissues, as well as around the dental implants that support it.
In the past, your best option was to use a floss threader or tufted floss to weave in and out under your prosthesis. Unfortunately, this process could be quite tedious, which kept a lot of people from doing it every day.
7. It’s Better Than Normal Flossing
There are a few reasons why using a water flosser is better than flossing.
For one, people tend to be more compliant with using a water flosser. Once you begin water flossing, it’s easier to stick to a daily routine. Whereas only a small percent of people actually use dental floss each day.
8. Water Flossing is Gentler on Your Mouth
Does it hurt your gums whenever you floss? Maybe the string feels as if it’s cutting into your gum tissue or you experience bleeding every time you floss? Flossing might be too uncomfortable (or painful at times) to want to try to use it regularly. Fortunately, that’s not the case with water flossing.
9. Interchangeable Tips
Depending on which water flosser you get, you can enjoy your choice of specific tips that make cleaning your mouth as easy as possible.
For instance, a tufted-end attachment is ideal for cleaning along the margins of our dental crowns, bridges, and dental implants. It can also help you reach between teeth if there are wide spaces and gum recession. Dentists also recommend this specific attachment for individuals who are undergoing orthodontic treatment, since it’s effective for cleaning around wires and brackets.
Other interchangeable tips tend to impact the pressure and flow of water, especially if your machine does not have an adjustable nozzle to control it with. Smaller openings tend to have higher pressure with a thin stream of water, while wider openings have less pressure and more water.
10. Healthier Gums
People who have gingivitis or periodontal disease will almost always see an improvement in their gum health after they start water flossing. Like regular floss, you’ll need to use it daily. After you water floss every day for about two weeks in a row, you should see a difference.
During your dental exams, you’ll probably find that you experience less gum irritation, bleeding, or probing depths (pocketing) around your teeth too. Since water flossers clean down below the gum lines, there’s much less of a risk for deeper gum pockets or heavy plaque buildup.
11. You Can Stop Using Normal Floss
Yes, you heard that correctly. If you’re using a water flosser every day, you have our permission to quit using dental floss. Since most people don’t floss as often as they should, this news tends to be quite popular.
Being that water flossing can reach all of the areas cleaned with traditional floss, and some, you don’t need to do both. It’s perfectly fine to drop the flossing altogether if you are going to use a water flosser.
12. They Work Around Braces Too
You might not be in braces, but if you’re thinking about orthodontic treatment or have a family member about to get braces, a water flosser is a must! Water flossers—especially those that have brush-tip designs—work excellently around fixed brackets and orthodontic archwires. Since plaque buildup around braces can leave lasting white spots on teeth, the investment in a water flosser can help target areas that a toothbrush might miss.
Adults are never too old to get braces and having a healthier smile can statistically reduce your chances of TMJ disorder, gum disease, and tooth decay. For a healthier smile from day one, always use an electric toothbrush and water flosser around braces. Having one in your household for younger family members is also a great idea.
14. They’re Easy to Use
When you’re using a water flosser, all you’ll need to do is trace around each tooth near the gumline, pausing between each one to clean those tight spaces. For someone who might not have great dexterity, suffers from arthritis, or just can’t put their fingers in the back of their mouth because of a sensitive gag reflex, water flossing is much easier to do!
At first, you might beg to differ. But once you get the routine down of water flossing without making much of a mess, the process is quite simple.
15. Your Dentist will Notice a Difference
It’s easy for your dentist and dental hygienist to tell if you’ve been flossing between your checkups. In most cases, flossing is so infrequent or done so quickly that the tissues remain slightly red and irritated.
Trouble Cleaning Your Teeth?
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