{"id":197,"date":"2015-12-31T08:41:07","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T08:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/?p=197"},"modified":"2016-08-22T23:30:40","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T06:30:40","slug":"general-dentistry-tip-the-importance-of-flossing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/general-dentistry-tip-the-importance-of-flossing\/","title":{"rendered":"General Dentistry Tip: The Importance of Flossing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_205\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Woman-Flossing-Santa-Cruz.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-205\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-205 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Woman-Flossing-Santa-Cruz.jpg\" alt=\"Woman flossing her teeth\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Woman-Flossing-Santa-Cruz.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Woman-Flossing-Santa-Cruz-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-205\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">photo credit: stockyimages | DollarPhotoClub<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Keeping your smile healthy starts with good at-home cleanings that happen on a daily basis. One commonly ignored aspect of general dentistry, however, is flossing. Flossing your teeth is extremely important because only floss can clean those hard to reach areas between your teeth. If you haven\u2019t been flossing or don\u2019t see any reason to floss, check out these important facts.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Flossing Removes Plaque<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The reason that flossing is so important is because it gets rid of the plaque that hides between your teeth. Your toothbrush bristles can\u2019t usually reach these tight places, and when you don\u2019t floss, it allows that plaque to harden and to form tartar, which can only be removed by a dental professional. Even if you have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/services\/cleanings-&amp;-scalingroot-planing\" target=\"_blank\">routine cleanings<\/a> (but especially if you skip those, too), the bacteria contained in tartar and plaque can eat away at your tooth enamel until it causes decay or a cavity.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clean Gums Help Prevent Gum Disease<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s not just your teeth that can fall victim to plaque and tartar. When you don\u2019t clean between your teeth, the tartar also irritates your gums. If left untreated, it can cause your gums to become inflamed, irritated and infected: a condition known as gum disease. Advanced gum disease can lead to severe tooth loss and gum recession, which drastically impacts the health of your smile. So, do you want to spend a few minutes a day flossing, or do you want to suffer with bloody gums and loose teeth if you do develop gum disease?<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It May Help Prevent Other Diseases<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>General dentistry basics, such as flossing, don\u2019t just affect your oral health; the bacteria that collects on your teeth when you don\u2019t floss isn\u2019t just bad for your mouth. Research has proven that the bacteria in your mouth can affect the rest of your body, increasing your chances of heart disease, diabetes and respiratory problems. So, when you skip flossing, you\u2019re not just putting yourself at risk for a little cavity, you may be putting your <a href=\"http:\/\/www.webmd.com\/heart-disease\/features\/periodontal-disease-heart-health\" target=\"_blank\">heart at risk<\/a> too.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It Doesn\u2019t Really Matter When You Floss<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You may hear people argue that it\u2019s best to floss after a meal, and other people say it\u2019s best to floss before the meal. The truth is, however, that it really doesn\u2019t matter when you floss. The most important thing is that you floss well. Taking thirty seconds to quickly flick the floss between a few teeth isn\u2019t enough. You need to take a few minutes, so you can actually clean every bit of food and bacteria between your teeth. Another thing that doesn\u2019t really matter is what type of floss you use. Whether you use traditional floss, flossers, waxed floss, thick floss, etc., just make sure to use them correctly.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t neglect your teeth and gums by skipping flossing. Just like brushing and routine professional cleanings help keep your mouth healthy, so does flossing. If you would like more information about how to properly floss or you just want additional general dentistry tips that can keep your mouth happy, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/contact\/\">contact Landmark Dental Group<\/a> today.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-384 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Landmark-Dental-Group-Santa-Cruz.png\" alt=\"Landmark Dental Group Contact | Santa Cruz\" width=\"428\" height=\"49\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Landmark-Dental-Group-Santa-Cruz.png 428w, https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Landmark-Dental-Group-Santa-Cruz-300x34.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 428px) 100vw, 428px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keeping your smile healthy starts with good at-home cleanings that happen on a daily basis. One commonly ignored aspect of general dentistry, however, is flossing. Flossing your teeth is extremely important because only floss can clean those hard to reach areas between your teeth. If you haven\u2019t been flossing or don\u2019t see any reason to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":545,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions\/545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landmark-dental-group.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}