Ora

l Hyg

iene

Pam

phle

t N

o. 2

Col

gate

Den

tal E

duca

tion

Pro

gram

s

Goo

d or

al h

ygie

ne b

egin

s w

ith

effe

ctiv

eto

othb

rush

ing

. .

. .

use

FLU

OR

IDAT

ED t

ooth

past

e an

d a

soft

bru

shus

e sh

ort,

gen

tle s

trok

espa

y ex

tra

atte

ntio

n to

:•

the

part

of

the

teet

h cl

oses

t to

the

gum

line

•ha

rd-to

-reac

h ba

ck t

eeth

•

area

s ar

ound

fil

lings

, cr

owns

, br

idge

s or

part

ial d

entu

res

thor

ough

ly c

lean

eac

h se

ctio

n as

fol

low

s:•

clea

n th

e ou

ter/

chee

k-si

de s

urfa

ces

of y

our

uppe

r te

eth

•cl

ean

the

inne

r/to

ngue

-sid

e su

rfac

es o

f yo

urup

per

teet

h •

clea

n th

e ch

ewin

g su

rfac

es•

then

rep

eat

for

your

low

er t

eeth

do

n’t

rush

an

ele

ctric

too

thbr

ush

can

do a

bet

ter

job

ofcl

eani

ng t

eeth

for

peo

ple

with

lim

ited

man

ual

dext

erity

. .

. .

but

also

invo

lves

rem

ovin

g pl

aque

tha

tbu

ilds

up o

n ha

rd-t

o-re

ach

area

s of

you

r m

outh

– yo

u ne

ed t

o cl

ean

betw

een

your

tee

th

Onc

e yo

u ha

ve m

aste

red

a te

chni

que

for

clea

ning

betw

een

your

tee

th,

it w

ill r

eadi

ly b

ecom

e pa

rt o

fyo

ur t

ooth

cle

anin

g ro

utin

e. T

he b

enef

its for

you

will

be h

ealth

ier

gum

s an

d a

fres

her

mou

th.

Flos

sing

–so

me

com

mon

que

stio

ns

How

oft

en d

o I

need

to

floss

my

teet

h?Pl

aque

acc

umul

ates

dai

ly, an

d m

akin

g flo

ssin

g pa

rtof

yo

ur

daily

or

al

hygi

ene

is

best

. If

you

are

susc

eptib

le t

o th

e m

ore

aggr

essi

ve f

orm

s of

gum

dise

ase

(per

iodo

ntit

is),

or

ar

e go

ing

thro

ugh

perio

dont

al t

reat

men

t, it

is n

eces

sary

to

atte

mpt

to

floss

at

leas

t da

ily.

Also

, if

you

notic

e bl

eedi

ng o

r a

bad

tast

e fr

om

the

area

s be

twee

n th

e te

eth,

floss

ing

will

hel

p el

imin

ate

thes

e pr

oble

ms.

Why

doe

s th

e flo

ss o

r ta

pe t

ear

to s

hred

s be

twee

nso

me

teet

h?It

is c

omm

on fo

r de

cay

to o

ccur

bet

wee

n yo

ur tee

th,

and

it is

lik

ely

that

you

hav

e fil

lings

tha

t ex

tend

dow

n th

e si

des

and

betw

een

your

tee

th.

As f

illin

gm

ater

ials

get

old

, th

eir

surf

aces

can

bec

ome

pitt

edor

rou

gh.

All o

f th

ese

fact

ors

can

lead

to

tear

ing

ofth

e de

ntal

flo

ss.

Men

tion

thes

e ar

eas

to

your

dent

ist.

Pol

ishi

ng t

he f

illin

g m

ay e

ase

the

prob

lem

or i

t m

ay b

e th

at t

he f

illin

g ha

s re

ache

d a

poin

tw

here

it n

eeds

to

be r

epla

ced.

Is it

pos

sibl

e to

pul

l a f

illin

g ou

t w

ith

dent

al f

loss

?It

is v

ery

unlik

ely

that

you

will

pul

l a

fillin

g ou

t. I

f it

does

hap

pen,

the

n it

is a

sig

n th

at t

he f

illin

g m

ayha

ve n

eede

d re

plac

emen

t. H

owev

er,

spec

ial

care

may

nee

d to

be

take

n w

ith d

enta

l cro

wns

.

How

can

I r

each

my

back

tee

th w

itho

ut g

aggi

ng?

Man

y pe

ople

ha

ve

trou

ble

reac

hing

th

e ba

ck

of

thei

rm

outh

s.

Flos

s ho

lder

s ar

eav

aila

ble

to a

ssis

t yo

u ov

erco

me

this

dif

ficul

ty.

If yo

u ar

e ha

ving

any

prob

lem

s w

ith f

loss

ing

your

teet

h,

your

de

ntis

t or

de

ntal

hygi

enis

t ca

n he

lp y

ou a

t yo

ur n

ext

visi

t.

√ √ √√ √√

Furt

her

info

rmati

on

can

be o

btai

ned

from

the

Denta

l P

ract

ice E

duca

tion R

ese

arc

h U

nit

A

RC

PO

H, S

chool of

Denti

stry

, Th

e U

niv

ers

ity

of

Adela

ide,

South

Aust

ralia 5

005

Em

ail d

peru

@adela

ide.e

du.a

u

Web

site

//w

ww

.arc

poh.

adel

aide

.edu

.au/

dper

u

Cleaning between teeth 16/6/06 10:01 AM Page 1

Why

flos

s?Ef

fect

ive

toot

hbru

shin

g w

ill c

ontr

ol m

ost

ofth

e pl

aque

tha

t bu

ilds

up o

n yo

ur t

eeth

but

a to

othb

rush

can

not

reac

h th

e su

rfac

esbe

twee

n yo

ur t

eeth

.

Mos

t pe

ople

kno

w a

bout

den

tal

floss

, bu

t un

like

toot

hbru

shin

g,

very

fe

w

peop

le

beco

me

regu

lar

user

s of

den

tal flo

ss.

This

is

beca

use

floss

ing

can

be:

•a

diff

icul

t sk

ill t

o m

aste

r•

time

cons

umin

g.

Flos

sing

mad

e si

mpl

e STE

P O

NE

Sta

nd i

n fr

ont

of a

wel

l-lit

mirro

r an

d ex

amin

e yo

urte

eth.

Id

entif

y th

e jo

ins

betw

een

neig

hbou

ring

teet

h. If

you

hav

e a

lot

of fill

ings

in y

our

mou

th, th

ism

ay b

e di

ffic

ult,

but

not

impo

ssib

le u

nles

s th

ere

isa

prob

lem

tha

t ca

n on

ly b

e re

solv

ed b

y a

dent

ist.

STE

P T

WO

Pull

out

abou

t 45

cm(1

8 i

nche

s) o

f flo

ss o

rta

pe.

Win

d on

e en

dar

ound

the

mid

dle

finge

rof

one

han

d, t

he o

ther

arou

nd t

he m

iddl

e fin

ger

of t

he o

ther

han

d. L

eave

abo

ut 1

0 c

m (

4 in

ches

) of

floss

bet

wee

n yo

ur h

ands

.

STE

P T

HR

EEU

se y

our t

hum

b an

d tip

of y

our i

ndex

fing

ers

to h

ook

arou

nd t

he f

loss

to

pull

itta

ut b

etw

een

your

han

ds.

Slid

e th

is

taut

se

ctio

nw

hich

sho

uld

be o

nly

abou

t3

cm

(1

inch

) in

le

ngth

betw

een

neig

hbou

ring

teet

h, a

fin

ger

on o

ne s

ide

and

thum

b on

the

oth

ersi

de o

f th

e to

oth.

Use

gen

tle ‘

saw

ing’

mov

emen

ts.

STE

P F

OU

RM

ove

the

floss

up

and

dow

n on

the

too

th s

urfa

ces,

push

ing

back

aga

inst

one

sur

face

, pu

lling

for

war

dag

ains

t th

e ot

her.

Flos

s do

wn

to t

he e

dge

of t

hegu

m,

but

don'

t pr

ess

so h

ard

that

it

caus

es p

ain.

Be

care

ful n

ot t

o in

jure

you

r gu

ms.

You

may

no

tice

bloo

d on

th

e flo

ss

– th

is

may

indi

cate

tha

t pl

aque

has

acc

umul

ated

bet

wee

n th

ete

eth

and

has

caus

ed s

ome

infla

mm

atio

n of

the

gum

s. T

his

shou

ld im

prov

e w

ithin

a f

ew d

ays

if yo

uco

ntin

ue t

o flo

ss d

aily.

If bl

eedi

ng p

ersi

sts,

see

you

r de

ntis

t.

STE

P F

IVE

Wor

k yo

ur w

ay a

roun

d th

e m

outh

in

a sy

stem

atic

man

ner,

bein

g ca

refu

l not

to

mis

s th

e jo

in b

etw

een

any

teet

h. M

ove

to a

new

sec

tion

of f

loss

as

it ge

tsso

iled

by t

he p

laqu

e an

d tr

appe

d fo

od t

hat

will

be

rem

oved

. H

ave

a go

od r

inse

. R

emem

ber

whe

n yo

u flo

ss t

hat

you

are

rem

ovin

gpl

aque

, no

t ju

st f

ood.

Den

tal f

loss

or

dent

al t

ape

Ther

e ar

e va

rious

typ

es o

f de

ntal

flo

ss a

vaila

ble.

Den

tal

floss

is

a

very

fin

e th

read

th

at is

of

ten

wax

ed t

o al

low

it

to s

lide

betw

een

adja

cent

tee

th.

Den

tal

tape

is

a th

icke

r th

read

, bu

t m

any

peop

lefin

d it

easi

er t

o co

ntro

l an

d m

ove

slow

ly b

etw

een

the

teet

h.

It al

so t

ends

to

resi

st f

rayi

ng.

Flos

s or

dent

al t

ape

may

be

colo

ured

or

flavo

ured

, bu

t th

isdo

es n

ot m

ake

any

diff

eren

ce t

o th

e ef

fect

iven

ess

in c

ontr

ollin

g pl

aque

.

Pla

que

is t

he s

oft

stic

ky f

ilmco

ntai

ning

mill

ions

of

bact

eria

tha

tfo

rms

on t

he t

eeth

con

tinu

ally

. P

laqu

eba

cter

ia p

rodu

ce a

cid

that

att

acks

the

teet

h an

d to

xins

tha

t irrita

te t

he g

ums

and

lead

to

gum

dis

ease

.

Oth

er w

ays

of c

lean

ing

betw

een

the

teet

h

Sup

erflo

ssis

a s

peci

al t

ype

of f

loss

tha

t ha

s be

ende

sign

ed t

o cl

ean

unde

r br

idge

s in

you

r m

outh

, or

betw

een

teet

h se

para

ted

by l

arge

r ga

ps.

It ha

s a

stif

f thr

ead

at e

ither

end

to p

ass

the

floss

und

er th

ebr

idge

or

thro

ugh

a ga

p, a

nd t

he m

ain

part

of

the

supe

rflo

ss i

s of

a t

hick

, fo

am-li

ke t

hrea

d th

at c

anbe

m

oved

ag

ains

t th

e to

oth

surf

ace

to

rem

ove

plaq

ue.

Inte

rpro

xim

al

brus

hes

are

toot

hbru

shes

tha

t ar

e de

sign

edto

pas

s be

twee

n te

eth,

and

are

very

us

eful

if

you

have

la

rger

gaps

be

twee

n yo

ur

teet

h,

or

ade

ntal

brid

ge.

Ther

e ar

e a

varie

tyof

de

sign

s av

aila

ble,

ra

ngin

gfr

om

ones

th

at

look

lik

e sm

all

bott

le b

rush

es,

thro

ugh

to s

mal

ltu

fts

of b

ristle

s. Y

our

dent

ist

will

be a

ble

to a

dvis

e yo

u on

the

site

sin

you

r m

outh

tha

t m

ay b

enef

itfr

om

thes

e in

terp

roxi

mal

brus

hes.

Inte

rden

tal

stic

ks(t

ooth

pick

s) h

ave

been

aro

und

for

cent

urie

s, a

nd s

till c

an h

ave

a us

eful

fun

ctio

n in

clea

ning

bet

wee

n th

e te

eth.

It is

impo

rtan

t tha

t the

yar

e m

ade

of w

ood

or p

last

ic t

hat

does

not

spl

inte

r.In

terd

enta

l st

icks

of

ten

have

a

tape

red

shap

e,en

ding

in

a bl

unte

d po

int.

The

blun

ted

end

is p

lace

d be

twee

nth

e te

eth

near

th

e gu

m lin

e,an

d th

e to

othp

ick

is

mov

edge

ntly

in

and

out

of t

he g

ap.

Car

e m

ust

be

take

n no

t to

plac

e to

o m

uch

pres

sure

on

the

tip.

Cleaning between teeth 16/6/06 10:01 AM Page 2