Flossing is an essential part of practicing good oral hygiene. Apart from brushing with a toothbrush, flossing helps to achieve better cleaning. By reaching spaces between the teeth and just below the gum line where the toothbrush cannot, flossing helps remove plaque and food particles.
If you don’t floss your teeth, then you can add it to your oral care routine. Thus, you can reduce the risk of potential dental problems and have healthy teeth and a bright smile. Still, there are different flossing methods; some people don’t know which way to choose.
Two of them are water floss vs dental floss. Here’s everything you need to know about water floss vs dental floss, including its advantages and disadvantages.
Importance of Flossing for Oral Health
One thing that everybody must know about water floss vs dental floss is that flossing is significant for oral health. It helps to prevent dental problems such as cavities and gum diseases.
For instance, if you consume sugary and acidic foods or drinks, you need to clean the particles properly to reduce the risk of dental problems caused by them. However, just brushing isn’t efficient enough to avoid this problem. You need to floss your teeth regularly to make sure that particles and plaque between your are correctly removed.
Understanding Water Flossing
Water flossing is a method that helps to clean teeth. The tool is called a water flosser and is used for removing food particles, bacteria, and plaque with a stream of water.
How Water Flossing Works
To use a water flosser, you must fill its reservoir with water. With a stream of water, the water flosser removes the substances of food that can damage your teeth, which are stuck between your teeth.
Advantages of Water Flossing
Water flossing is usually recommended for people who have braces or other orthodontic treatments. Since it is hard to clean between the teeth when you have braces, water flossers can be a choice for people with braces. You can efficiently clean your teeth behind the wires with the water flosser.
Another advantage of water flossing is that it is gentle on the gums. Cleaning between the teeth shouldn’t be painful or complicated, and water flossing has a refreshing effect on teeth.
Potential Drawbacks of Water Flossing
Water flossing has some disadvantages as well. First of all, water flossing can be more expensive than dental flossing. That’s why this might cause it to be less preferred by people. Besides, water flossing requires electricity and water to use. Yet, when outside or traveling, it cannot be accessible to everyone.
Traditional Dental Flossing
Some people choose to do traditional dental flossing.
How Dental Flossing Works
The thin and soft thread which helps to clean between the teeth is called dental floss.
Advantages of Dental Flossing
There are some advantages of dental floss. Firstly, traditional dental flossing helps to clean the spaces between teeth and remove plaque.
Also, everyone can reach it. Dental floss products are found in many places, like pharmacies and supermarkets. Besides, when compared to water floss, dental floss costs less.
Potential Drawbacks of Dental Flossing
Although flossing is good for oral health, it has disadvantages too. When you floss, you may experience bleeding, especially if you don’t do it properly. Flossing so hard may lead to bleeding gums. Here, you need to be careful not to floss too hard. Thus, you can reduce the risk of harming your gums and other dental problems like gum recession.
In addition to bleeding gums, dental flossing may be ineffective for some people. Some people might struggle to floss certain parts of their mouth correctly, mainly if their teeth are very close to each other. They can find it hard to clean their teeth. That’s why dental flossing might not be sufficient for them to manage their dental health.
Other than that, dental flossing can be time-consuming. Since it requires flossing in between all your teeth one by one, many people find it time-consuming.
Comparing Water Floss and Dental Floss
Let’s compare water floss vs dental floss in three different ways.
Effectiveness in Plaque Removal
The effectiveness in plaque removal is a criterion in water floss vs dental floss. However, it depends on the person who uses it. Both can be very effective, primarily if used correctly and help remove plaque with different techniques.
For instance, dental floss cannot be efficient if your teeth are very close since it is hard for you to floss between the teeth, and plaque remains. Similarly, people who experience gum bleeding when they use dental floss can try water flossing to avoid this problem.
Ease of Use and Accessibility
Another criterion in water floss vs dental floss issue is accessibility and ease of use. Water floss is easier for people with braces or other orthodontic treatments. Also, it can be more beneficial for people with gum sensitivity and trouble using dental floss.
For people who have dental crowns, using water floss may be easier. Water floss is more gentle for your dental crowns than dental floss.
Moreover, water floss is more expensive than dental floss, which makes dental floss more accessible. Similarly, dental floss does not require electricity or water to work like water floss. Thus, it can be easily used whenever you want.
Environmental Considerations
One question about water floss vs dental floss topic is that flossing is good for teeth but also for the environment? To know the answer, you need to know what materials they are made of.
Dental floss is made from nylon, which makes it hard to recycle. For environmental considerations, using water floss may be more effective than dental floss. Still, you should be careful not to waste water while using water floss.
Choosing the Right Flossing Method for You
The issue of water floss vs dental floss can be controversial since both have pros and cons. Yet, only some flossing method is helpful for some. You should contact your dentist to learn what flossing method is better for you.
The dentist can suggest the best flossing method after examining your teeth and give you more information about water floss vs dental floss. If you have dental problems or don’t know how to floss correctly, the dentist can help you with flossing.
You can reach our previous article from https://smileteamturkey.com/blog/signs-of-dental-problems/
