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We all get that flossing is good for our oral health.

Research even shows that flossing helps reduce our risk of heart disease and other big hitters.

But did you know that flossing, if done incorrectly, could harm your oral health and even undermine your whole body health, too? 

Here are 4 common flossing mistakes and some tips on how to floss correctly so you can avoid these costly errors that can undermine your health.

Flossing mistake #1: Zombie flossing

The first mistake most of us make while flossing is to just go through the routine without paying attention to what we’re doing or what the floss can tell us about the current state of our oral health.

We talk a lot about the importance of bringing awareness to our oral hygiene habits. We coined the term ‘conscious flossing‘ many years ago to describe this idea that we can bring more awareness to such a mundane habit as flossing our teeth.

The problems with flossing unconsciously (zombie flossing) are that we don’t gather the precious information that can be gained from ‘reading’ the used floss segments, and we stand to cause all sorts of damage by using an incorrect flossing technique.

So, let’s start by paying a little attention while we floss. Yes, we do sometimes floss while doing other things, like watching a movie. But we can still pay attention to what our flossing session tells us.

The solution to zombie flossing

Simply pay attention to any colors and smells that appear on the segment of floss that was used between two teeth.

Rather than ‘snap and run’ to the next pair of teeth, take a moment to ‘read the floss’ and see what’s going on between the two teeth you just flossed around. Do you have any color on the used floss segment? Does it smell? Did you have color/smell here the last time you flossed?

Paying just a little attention to what our floss tells us about any potential infection between two teeth (especially molars!) can be a very helpful first line of defense; we can use this information to take action and stop any gum infection from growing.

Flossing mistake #2: Using too little floss

Ok, we are a pretty thrifty family. We reuse plastic bags and tend to hoard glass bottles.

But when it comes to flossing, we each use at least 18″ per session. Here’s why…

Have you ever been doing your flossing routine and gotten to the last few teeth but have run out of floss? So you just ‘back up’ a few winds from your ‘used floss finger’ and finish up, right?

Well, doing so just may have transferred thug bugs from one infected gum pocket into another part of your mouth that’s not infected yet. Yeah, the bugs do move around the mouth pretty well on their own, but flossing is unfortunately an excellent way to ‘plant seeds’ of thug bugs into the gum pocket, where they can multiply and thrive.

It’s just not worth the risk.

Flossing mistake #3: Using vigorous, aggressive motions with floss pulled tightly

The two main reasons we floss are:

• to remove any food debris and plaque from between our teeth
• to disorganize any thug bugs and prevent them from colonizing in any gum pockets

While accomplishing the two objectives above, let’s remember that our gum tissue likes to be stimulated and massaged.

However, our gum tissue does not like to be tortured.

Snapping into the gum pocket quickly and banging on the gum tissue aggressively are sure ways to cause damage to our gums over time. Habitual torture to gums will cause the tissue to recoil and turn into gum recession.

The solution to using a vigorous flossing technique

Rather than taking an MMA (mixed martial arts) approach to flossing, try flossing with an aikido or tai chi mindset.

Allow the floss to be a bit slack while flossing rather than maintaining a super tightrope tension on the floss. Holding a slack floss will allow you to wrap the floss gently around the curve of each tooth, and this will do a much better job removing plaque and disrupting any bugs hanging around.

Once in the gum pocket and ‘hugging’ the curve of the tooth, gently but firmly slide the floss (with a soft level of tension on the string) down as far as the floss will reach (remember, no banging on the gum) and back up the tooth again. Do this 2-3 times. Then, move to the other ‘side’ of the contact between the two teeth and repeat.

Flossing mistake #4: Irregular flossing habits

Some experts speak out against flossing. Most of the experts in the ‘anti flossing’ camp reference the same research that suggests that flossing can drive bacteria from the mouth into the bloodstream and cause inflammation of heart tissue (called ‘infective endocarditis’).

Here’s the challenge: if we don’t floss regularly, populations of thug bugs grow and strengthen, which causes the gum tissue to become inflamed and bleed easily (gingivitis). It’s precisely this state of inflammation that allows the thug bugs to enter the bloodstream.

Regular flossing stops gingivitis in its tracks.

So, the problem with irregular flossing habits is we most likely are allowing bad bug populations to build, and this allows gum inflammation to develop. If we floss at that point, we are increasing our risk of driving bugs into our bloodstream.

The solution to irregular flossing

Simple enough, really: regular flossing.

While daily flossing helps, the research suggests that at least every other day is ‘regular’ enough to keep bad bug populations from colonizing the gum line.

When you consider just how effective flossing is in lowering the risk of disease throughout the whole body, it becomes clear that flossing is a simple yet important habit that we should incorporate into our daily routine.

How to maximize your benefit from flossing

Let’s sum this all up in a quick ‘To-Do’ list:

1. Floss consciously. Check for color and smell after each contact.
2. Use plenty of floss so you can use a clean segment for each contact.
3. Floss your teeth using ‘tai chi’ hands rather than a ‘no mercy’ attitude.
4. Allow the floss to wrap around each tooth to clean more effectively.
5. Floss regularly, at least every other day.

https://orawellness.com/avoid-4-common-flossing-mistakes/

In this article, we’re going to explore the often-overlooked oral hygiene habit of cleaning the tongue as well as the important role that tongue cleaning plays in supporting greater oral and whole-body health.

We often emphasize that the health of the mouth plays a central role in the health of the whole body, so it’s important to balance our oral flora by being good conductors of the symphony of microbes in our mouths. In essence, a critical step in navigating the path to greater whole-body health is to establish and maintain a healthy microbial balance at the beginning of the digestive tract: our mouth.

So, let’s start by exploring why cleaning the tongue plays such a big part in any holistic oral hygiene routine and how it can impact our whole-body health.

Scientists have found that the mouth may function as a reservoir for microbes that can cause gut inflammation.

Why is this so important?

Well, like Hippocrates said around 2500 years ago, “All disease begins in the gut.” So, if our gut is unhealthy, it’s impossible for the body to be healthy.

Research suggests that common oral microbes may perpetuate and aggravate gut inflammation. If left unchecked, this could result in, or at least contribute to, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and leaky gut.

The mouth is the beginning…

The digestive tract actually begins in the mouth.

The mouth chews food, breaking it down into smaller pieces and mixing it with our saliva (which contains digestive enzymes), and then the masticated food travels down the throat and into the stomach. Then the stomach, spleen, and pancreas create fuel for our systems by digesting the food, the small intestine absorbs nutrients from that digested food, and the remaining food waste is eliminated through the colon (large intestine).

The big point here, the digestive tract is also home to 80% of our immune system and the mouth is the beginning of this whole system.

This is why holistic oral health strategies like oil pulling go a long way toward helping us have a healthy gut microbiome.

You see, we swallow a lot of oral microbes every day with our saliva. If the mouth is healthy and has a balanced oral flora, bathing the digestive tract with saliva definitely supports our overall health.

However, if the mouth is out of balance and ‘thug bugs’ are running the show, everything ‘downstream’ can suffer from this imbalanced mouth ecology.

For example, overpopulation of the bacteria klebsiella in the mouth can wind up causing problems in the gut. Remember, as we swallow, the bacteria hitch a ride through the rest of our digestive tract. Research has found that when strains of klebsiella populated the gut, they caused a strong inflammatory immune response in some of the test subjects.

How does this relate to cleaning the tongue?

Well, klebsiella is facultative anaerobic bacteria. That means that while they can live in environments with regular levels of oxygen, they really thrive in low-oxygen environments.

And where is the most prolific low oxygen environment located in the mouth?

Yep. When the tongue isn’t cleaned regularly, it creates a low-oxygen environment where bacteria like Klebsiella can thrive. In fact, the majority of the microbes in our mouths live on our tongues.

As we’ve shared before, the first strategy for balancing our oral flora is to maintain thin biofilms in the mouth.

Thick biofilms create low-oxygen environments, which enables thug bugs like klebsiella to build their numbers.

However, using oral hygiene techniques to maintain thin biofilms on our teeth and tongue creates an oxygen-rich environment, which discourages thug bugs while simultaneously encouraging health-giving microbes to thrive.

How to clean the tongue…

Cleaning the tongue is really simple, but it involves a little more than just brushing your tongue.

Step one is to get the ‘gunk’ (biofilm) off of our tongue in order to remove the low-oxygen environment. And brushing the tongue simply doesn’t remove the gunk.

Our preferred device for step one is a tongue cleaner, and oral hygiene tool that’s been used for centuries in the traditional Indian medicine practice called, ‘Ayurveda’.

Take your tongue cleaner (or spoon, with the bowl facing downwards, towards your tongue) and reach as far back on your tongue as is comfortable. Then, using gentle pressure, drag your tool down your tongue from the back (near your throat) to the front (towards the tip of your tongue). Then rinse the gunk off your tongue cleaner or spoon.

If you’ve never done this before, please, go do it right now.

You’ll never stop cleaning your tongue once you see the sheer volume of biofilm that comes off a tongue that hasn’t been scraped regularly.

Do this quick scrape 3-4 times and then spit and rinse. Not only will your mouth be healthier, but many people also find that this increases their ability to taste subtle flavors in foods.

https://orawellness.com/tongue-cleaning-importance/

Have you ever looked at your toothbrush under a microscope?

I have, and it’s pretty freaky when you see all the little goobers that are clinging to the bristles.

A toothbrush is a great place for thug bugs to hang out, just waiting for another chance to recolonize your mouth.

To stop your toothbrushes from becoming a petri dish, you simply need to understand the environment that these thug bugs need to thrive.

By removing one or more of these conditions, you can rest easy with the knowledge that your toothbrushes are not being used as thug bug nurseries.

Fortunately, it’s really simple to keep your toothbrush free from thug bugs without having to spend any money on those newfangled toothbrush sanitizers.

Getting to know thug bugs…

The bacteria implicated with gum disease are called ‘gram-negative bacteria’.

They are anaerobic, which simply means that they thrive in low-oxygen environments.

If it had to be described as the perfect space for thug bugs, it would be a warm, dark, moist, low-oxygen environment. This is why thug bugs grow so well in oral gum pockets.

Knowing this, it’s easy to stop your toothbrush from being a thug bug sanctuary. All you need to do is remove one or more of the conditions that they require.

Here are three simple strategies you can use to keep your toothbrush germ-free.

1. Let your toothbrush fully dry out between brushings.

To allow your toothbrush to fully dry out before you use it again, you need to have more than one brush and rotate through them during the week.

This allows each brush to fully dry out before it’s used again. Since thug bugs require a moist environment, allowing the brush to dry fully helps to prevent them from living on your brush.

2. Give your brush a sunbath.

Sunlight is a powerful cleaner/disinfectant. 

Leaving your brush on a sunny windowsill for the day will allow it to fully dry and it will also take advantage of the disinfecting power of natural sunlight.

The best part about this strategy is that it’s free. So, you don’t have to purchase one of those fancy ‘brush sanitizers’ and wonder whether it’s doing its job to clean your brush.

3. Soak the bristles in hydrogen peroxide overnight.

For anyone who doesn’t have a sunny windowsill and who only has one toothbrush, here’s a third option to keep it free from thug bugs.

Just add some peroxide (3% is fine) into a small glass and put the brush head (bristles down) into the peroxide overnight.

Peroxide is a very oxygen-rich environment. So, it does a very good job of robbing these low-oxygen-environment-loving thug bugs of a major condition they need to survive.

When you’re ready to use your brush, simply remove it from the peroxide, give it a quick rinse with water, and you’re all set to begin your brushing routine.

But never try to clean it in the dishwasher or microwave…

One more note, never try to clean your toothbrush by putting it in the dishwasher or microwave. 

The high temperatures will damage the brush and you may also wind up damaging your dishwasher and/or microwave.

https://orawellness.com/3-easy-ways-to-keep-thug-bugs-from-growing-on-your-toothbrush/

When it comes to increasing oral health awareness in the family, it’s important to remember that brushing and flossing aren’t enough to attain or maintain good dental health.

98% of every man, woman, and child in the United States has some form of oral disease. And among those folks, 90% of adults and 65% of 15-year-olds specifically have signs of active gum disease.

So if brushing and flossing alone created oral health and most people did at least one of these things habitually, wouldn’t these numbers be much, much lower?

Parents want the best for their children at all times. For example, many of us were raised on Twinkies and Lucky Charms (actually, I preferred Ding Dongs and Trix 🙂 –just name your poison). However, parents today want to give their children the finest start possible, especially if they themselves did not have the best nutritious start.

Circling back to our oral hygiene routine, it’s vital to note that children learn a great deal from seeing their parents go about their daily lives. As a result, taking charge of our dental health is the best thing we can do to enhance oral health for everyone in the family.

What is conscious flossing?

The term “conscious flossing” describes bringing awareness and attention to the routine habit of flossing.

By paying attention while flossing, a lot can be learned about what’s going on in our mouths, and this information can have a huge impact on the ability to create greater oral health.

How to floss consciously

1.  Start with a piece of floss that’s long enough for you to be able to use a new segment of floss between each set of teeth.

2.  Stop and look at the floss after each flossing point. Look for any discoloration on the floss. Any color (blood or yellowish color) is a clear sign that you have an active infection in the gum pockets around those teeth.

3.  Step three requires some courage, so be strong! 🙂 Smell the floss. Yep, smell it after each contact you clean. A bad smell on the floss is also a sign of an active infection in the gum pockets around those teeth. And yes, if you find any smelly floss, that directly contributes to the smell from your mouth that your partner has come to recognize as normal.

4.  As you floss, feel for any pain, sensitivity, or signs of swelling.

Wrapping up…

Once your children see you floss consciously, they will begin to do the same.

Everyone in the family will have a better understanding of how to create greater oral health in their own life. That’s what we call a win/win for all!!!

https://orawellness.com/how-to-create-greater-oral-health-for-the-whole-family/