Hi there, I’m Serena Calcagno, Dr. Calcagno’s daughter. You may have seen pictures of me over the years in one of the iterations of the dental office, or met me while I was helping out at the front desk! I’ll be contributing to the Dental Office blog for the summer, using my own personal dental challenges, along with advice from Dr. Calcagno, to help you improve your home care routines and general dental knowledge.

During the shelter-in-place order, we are spending more time in our homes and near our own bathrooms than ever. In this time, we have a chance to revitalize our most important daily self-care routines. Now, as always, we want to make sure you are taking a proactive and preventative stance toward your oral health. That’s why today, we are revisiting the topic that Camile addressed in our first-ever blog post: flossing & interdental care!  

We know. Flossing may not be your favorite pastime, but it IS something that we all need to do!  

It’s easy to think, “C’mon, what’s the harm of not flossing every single day?” What does flossing do, really? In short, by removing plaque and food particles, you are protecting the surfaces between your teeth, and your gums, from decay. Preventing this buildup each day is key to your long term oral health. 

Preventing cavities from forming between the teeth now saves you from needing more intrusive dental care later. Even the most enthusiastic electric toothbrush user is not immune to tooth decay in areas where your toothbrush can’t reach. By establishing daily flossing habits now, you are protecting your future teeth (and your future pocketbook)!  

I personally have tried and failed to floss the “regular way” with string. Perhaps, like me, you don’t like to shove your hands in your mouth (even after washing hands multiple times, it feels particularly strange and counterintuitive in the time of COVID-19). It might be that you keep finding that string floss cuts off the blood circulation to your fingertips, or just keeps slipping off your hands, making it very hard to floss. Or, it could be that simply starting a flossing routine is painful and makes your gums bleed. 

Interdental care, and flossing in particular, doesn’t have to be unpleasant! 

There are a few ways you can ease yourself into the routine of flossing while getting around some of these problems:

• A bit of discomfort and light bleeding is totally normal if you’re flossing for the first time in a while. Just keep flossing gently each day, and those issues will quickly fade.
• If you don’t like the feeling of having your hands in your mouth, try handheld floss picks! 
• Couple your flossing routine with an activity that you do everyday that is relaxing, such as watching a TV show or calling a friend as you’re beginning the routine, so you have a distraction from any discomfort.
• Try out a Waterpik or other water-flosser. By using a water-flosser, you can get many of the effects of flossing without as much discomfort as string floss. 

If you’ve already got a great flossing routine, here are some ways to boost your preventative-care game:

• Each time you finish a meal or a snack, swish and spit out some water to help dislodge larger food particles and balance your mouth’s pH.
• After brushing your teeth, swish the toothpaste in your mouth for 30 seconds to make sure fluoride makes contact with the surfaces between teeth.

We hope you enjoyed these simple tips that can help get started, or improve upon, your interdental care routine.

Take care, stay home, and stay healthy!

Serena Calcagno