Floss picks are a relatively new way to floss your teeth. Using a pre-strung pick is a little different that flossing traditionally. These tools have a tooth pick on one end and a length of floss stretched between a U-shaped piece of plastic on the other end. Floss picks are safe to use in general, but there are a few distinct reasons why you may not want to choose them over a traditional length of waxed dental floss.
Safe to Use
Floss picks are relatively easy to use in place of traditional floss. Instead of your fingers, the plastic holds the floss tight so it can pass between your teeth. The pick end is no sharper than a normal tooth pick so it is usually safe to use where you would use a tooth pick. However, you can still get the floss stuck between tightly crowded teeth or damage your gums and fillings with the pick. You must exercise care when using a floss pick because you can't necessarily see what you're doing inside your mouth.
Gum Irritation
Your gums can become easily irritated by too much pressure coming down on the tissue between the teeth. The small length of floss on the pick tends to snap down into the gum line. There is little room to move the floss back and forth like with traditional floss where you can use a gentle sawing action to get into tight spot without irritating the gums. This means that traditional dental floss is less irritating to your gums than a floss pick when used correctly.
Poor Form
The length of floss on the pick is so short it makes it hard to reach the proper angles needed to floss your teeth properly. There are places around the edges of your teeth that you just cannot reach with a floss pick. You need traditional dental floss to reach those spot. The length of floss you hold between your fingers is easily bent around large molars and angled into deep pockets to get every last bit of food debris. Even with extra care, dental picks just aren't as deep cleaning as traditional floss.
Wasteful
When you purchase a roll of traditional dental floss, it comes in a small container with a spool containing dozens of feet of floss. So when the spool runs out, you throw away a single plastic container. Floss picks come in a plastic bag and are designed for one use only. Due to the fragile floss, you may use three or four just to floss once. Most of the floss pick is made of plastic that can't be recycled. This makes traditional spooled floss a greener choice to reduce household waste.
Talk with a family dentistry professional to understand which type of floss is best for you.
Share23 February 2018
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