Are Floss Picks As Good As Regular Floss?

When you’re taking care of your oral hygiene, don’t discount the importance of flossing! While brushing your teeth at least 2 times a day is an important step to remove bacteria and food debris from your mouth, some areas are almost impossible to reach with just a toothbrush (even an electric brush).

This is where dental floss comes in. Today, any supermarket is filled with lots of oral hygiene products that promise not just to be effective, but also convenient. Unfortunately, not all of them live up to their promises.

So if you’ve been thinking about upgrading to floss picks instead of regular floss, here’s why you should probably reconsider.

Why Floss Picks Aren’t As Good as Dental Floss

First, let’s quickly go over what each of these dental health tools is:

Dental floss is a special type of string you can cut and use to gently go up and down the area between the teeth. This motion allows you to pull any elements that could lie in this area, which your toothbrush wouldn’t be able to get out;

Floss picks technically work on a similar principle, but the dental floss is tied to a pick, allowing you to essentially floss your teeth with just one hand;

So why are floss picks not as good as traditional dental floss, considering there isn’t much difference between them?

Well, when you use traditional floss and wrap each end around your fingers, you are able to clean out the areas in between your teeth from more angles than just a floss pick. Because the floss from the pick is held straight, it will not allow you to effectively follow the shape of your tooth and clean it.

Of course, if the question is floss picks or no flossing at all - be sure to choose the floss picks! But for the most part, dentists actually prefer it if you use the tried and tested dental floss.

How to Floss Properly

To really clean your teeth the right way at home, check out the following flossing tips that can help:

Cut a bit of the floss (around 18 inches) and tie each end around your middle fingers
Take a bit of the floss between your thumb and forefinger, and thread it between 2 of your teeth
Hold the floss against the side of the tooth and gently move it up and down, away from the gumline
Move the floss around the teeth to properly clean all of them, front and back