3 Tips To Teach Your Kids Better Flossing Techniques
Has your child reached the point where they are going to be flossing independently rather than having you do it for them? If so, they are going to need to know some techniques that will help them be successful at flossing.
Use Plenty Of Floss
One common problem that kids run into is that they actually take too little floss to do the job correctly. They want to have enough so that it can wrap around two fingers quite well and hold the floss tightly between them. If that tight grip is causing them to lose their hold of the floss, they are not using nearly enough floss as they should.
Part of the problem with the bare minimum amount of floss is that your child should also be unwrapping the floss so that they use fresh floss between each tooth. By limiting the floss to just a small amount that's actually between their fingers, it gives them a lot of control over where the floss goes and how much pressure is being applied to the surface of the teeth.
Use Up-And-Down Motions That Wrap Around The Tooth
Another mistake that is made is not using the right motions for flossing. You should teach your kids to avoid a sawing motion that goes back and forth between the teeth. This motion is going to cover very little surface area and can actually damage the gums in the process. You want to show them how to use an up-and-down motion that goes deep into the pockets of the gum. The goal is not only to remove the plaque that is found between the teeth but also the plaque that is hiding in the gum line.
In addition, your child should be making a C shape with the floss around their tooth, which causes the floss to wrap around it and touch as much of the tooth as possible. This is one of the big advantages to using dental floss rather than a floss pick because those picks do not provide enough floss to properly wrap around the tooth. This can end up leaving edges of the tooth with plaque on them.
Floss Systematically Between The Teeth
It helps to follow a pattern for how you floss. If you just start flossing between whatever teeth you feel like, it is likely that you'll forget to floss between some of them along the way. Start at the back of your lower or upper jaw and move across the entire row of teeth. Then do the same along the opposite side until you are finished.
To learn more, contact a family dentistry service.
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