On dental floss

I am Joe Q. Public.  I put my pants on one leg at a time.  I like hamburgers on the grill.  I cry when I watch Old Yeller.  And, like most people, I didn’t used to floss my teeth.  It’s a pain in the hind-end and it’s a bit gross.  I am stubborn though so when my new dental hygienist got on the old, “you have to floss or your head will rot and fall off” train, I decided to prove her wrong.

Clearly, this stuff was invented during the Inquisition

It’s not like I never flossed.  I flossed regularly for the week before I go to get my teeth cleaned and likewise the week afterwards.  With my Invisalign teeth aligners, I am supposed to brush and floss every time I hiccup anyhow, so I had additional motivation to floss like responsible teeth owners are supposed to do.

Dental floss technology...it amazes me!

I quickly found that the old-school floss was not gonna work long-term for me so I went in search of new flossing technology.  I found “the floss stick” as I like to call it.  It takes the guess-work out of flossing (did you know there is guess work in flossing?)  No more trying to figure the best way to get your big hairy hands in your mouth just right so you can get your back teeth.  No more accidentally cutting off all circulation to your index finger when you wrap it just a little bit too tight.  No, no, those days are over!  With my new floss stick, I can floss (and floss well) all the teeth in my head…faster than green grass through a goose!

The heads swap out so it isn't gross!

I haven’t yet been back to the hygienist, but I am sticking to my flossing challenge thanks to the flossing stick.  I am sort of torn…in one way I want to prove her wrong about flossing, but in another, I am pretty excited to have good teeth and to get accolades from a near-stranger as she dances around in my mouth.  Only time will tell, but I am sold on flossing now that’s it’s easy (and I don’t have to taste my hairy hands!)

11 thoughts on “On dental floss

  1. Between your big hairy hands and your small mouth – I can see where flossing would be a challenge. Glad you’re trying something new to accommodate your incompatible body parts!

  2. The trouble with all those floss type helpers, is that they can’t wrap the floss up around each tooth. They only get the gunk that lives between each set of teeth. My hygienist says that to do the job properly, you have to first floss one tooth, and then the one up next to it.

    All that said—I only floss the week before cleanings, too.
    Heck, If Willy Wonka can go a lifetime eating candy, not floss, and still have great teeth–so can I.
    .-= Ceecee´s last blog ..It’s Not the Italians =-.

  3. Emily – it’s awful isn’t it…such a beautiful face as this marred by unflossed teeth? No more!

    Loretta – VS2010? Very progressive! And typical with the crash!

    Ceecee – baby steps for me…I ain’t gonna floss with regular floss so I hope this helps some!

    Lisa – That’s the floss they have in Heaven I think!

    ETW – My mom-in-law uses those and swears by them…I may have to try them too!

    Caprilis – I have had no trouble at all with these coming apart…worth a try and cheap too so if you don’t like it you haven’t lost much

  4. Love love love Emily’s comment!!! LOL!
    I’m still using the old fashioned dental floss.
    About celebrating Chinese New Year, please be sure to check back on Monday for the foods and traditions of CNY.
    .-= YDavis´s last blog ..Golden Friday =-.

  5. Funny you posted this: dental care has been hot on the minds of my family lately since my mother went in and found she needed serious dental work – many appointments over the course of the year. The dentist started to talk about the flossing, etc. and, well, let’s just say the message got heard loud and clear in light of the upcoming treatments. So now we are all reminded on a regular basis to floss, rinse, use a tongue cleaner… Most of this is routine, except the flossing – we’ve all been notsogreat about it. I think I’ll try this device – at the very least, it saves having my hands and fingers twisted all over near my mouth to get the string through all the areas!
    .-= Mangochild´s last blog ..Choosing Seeds – So Many Choices! =-.

  6. With giant teeth like mine, I am a hardcore flosser!

    This looks like something Honey would like. He brushes his teeth with no toothpaste on his way to work. He also has those little flossers with picks in the car. Oh, he is a multi-tasker, that one!
    .-= Capri Kel´s last blog ..52@5 =-.

  7. Ooo, be careful…I recently chipped a molar when my handy handled flosser thing got stuck between two bottom teeth and smacked into the top molar when I yanked it out of stuck position!
    .-= Amy´s last blog ..Flying away =-.

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