Flossing

[Cicero]

So ill admit that I rarely floss, I mean rarely. It's such a hassle flossing when you have braces.


My questions are:

When you floss are you supposed to do the flossing motion on your gums?
If so, is it normal for it to hurt your gums? Cause whenever I do it my gums bleed.

My gums in general are healthy, yet it seems my gums bleed whenever I floss. Whenever I brush I brush my gums everytime and I use listerine. My gums never bleed when I brush them btw, it only happens when I floss, why is this?

Oh, and if listerine starts to not really burn, does that mean your mouth has gotten a lot healthier?


I was reading that when your gums bleed, it's a good sign because that means your gums are expelling the bacteria that's trapped. Is this true?

What exactly is the reason you use the flossing motion when flossing? Wouldn't you just use the floss and go down to your gums then onto the next tooth be adequate enough?


Also when I was flossing, I got the floss pretty down into my gums of my teeth. Is this a bad sign? What does this mean?

http://i.imgur.com/X6F8GTV.png

See that red line? That's about how fire the floss went, so my floss literally went in between the tooth and gum.

[ImCoolBeans]

You do the "flossing motion" to get any plaque build up and/or food that is caught in your teeth out of there. It's normal that it goes down under your gum a little bit -- your gums aren't fused to your teeth like concrete so it's bound to happen. It hurts and your teeth bleed because you don't floss often enough. When you floss regularly it doesn't hurt and they generally don't bleed; if they still do then they don't bleed as much/often.

You can't really floss with braces so it's fine that you don't, I didn't when I had braces (I still don't really do it, I forget to most of the time or I'm too lazy). However, flossing is pretty important. If you don't floss then your gum line will start to recede and that can cause your jaw bone to slightly wear away -- this is why so many adults stress flossing to their kids -- because when your jaw bone starts to erode a little at the top, your teeth aren't held in as strongly and you can loose your teeth a lot easier. That's also why a lot of adults have teeth issues later in life.

[Cicero]

You do the "flossing motion" to get any plaque build up and/or food that is caught in your teeth out of there. It's normal that it goes down under your gum a little bit -- your gums aren't fused to your teeth like concrete so it's bound to happen. It hurts and your teeth bleed because you don't floss often enough. When you floss regularly it doesn't hurt and they generally don't bleed; if they still do then they don't bleed as much/often.

You can't really floss with braces so it's fine that you don't, I didn't when I had braces (I still don't really do it, I forget to most of the time or I'm too lazy). However, flossing is pretty important. If you don't floss then your gum line will start to recede and that can cause your jaw bone to slightly wear away -- this is why so many adults stress flossing to their kids -- because when your jaw bone starts to erode a little at the top, your teeth aren't held in as strongly and you can loose your teeth a lot easier. That's also why a lot of adults have teeth issues later in life.

Thanks, it makes me feel better now that I know it's normal for the floss to go under my gums a bit. I flossed about 5-6 hours ago and my gums still hurt, is that normal? I don't really know if its due to my braces getting readjusted or if it was due to me flossing.

Also, like when I wake up my gums are light pink. Yet when I brush and brush my gums they become a lot more red. They say having pink gums are healthy, so is it bad my gums become red when I brush them? Like when I don't brush my gums or teeth for about 8-10 hours my gums become light pink to pink.

[ImCoolBeans]

Thanks, it makes me feel better now that I know it's normal for the floss to go under my gums a bit. I flossed about 5-6 hours ago and my gums still hurt, is that normal? I don't really know if its due to my braces getting readjusted or if it was due to me flossing.

Also, like when I wake up my gums are light pink. Yet when I brush and brush my gums they become a lot more red. They say having pink gums are healthy, so is it bad my gums become red when I brush them? Like when I don't brush my gums or teeth for about 8-10 hours my gums become light pink to pink.

I think it's pretty normal -- also the fact that you have orthodontia and see an orthodontist is good. If he/she hasn't told you that your gums are in bad shape or need some help/attention then I don't think you have much to worry about right now. When I had braces I wasn't really able to floss (same for anyone with braces) and he told me that my gum line was lower than it should have been so he gave me something to help with that. So if he or she hasn't mentioned it then they can't be in too bad of shape. Next time you go in for a visit you should ask about it -- anything I've been able to tell you is just from my experience with braces/flossing but any orthodontist has gone through serious medical training to work on your mouth, they'll have all of the answers and could probably give you more info on how to take care of your gums better while wearing braces. Also, keeping your braces as clean as you can will definitely benefit your gums. When food particles get caught and decay on/under your gums it isn't very healthy for them.

[Ben4ever]

Tooth decay is very common with braces. Flossing may be a hassle now but it will pay off when you have all your real teeth in your twenties. Speaking from experience!