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10 Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | March-April 2015oral health The Nr. 1 recommendation¹ from dentists is to use floss, so why aren’t more people doing so? By Jordan M ost of us have been told by our dentist that we should clean better be- tween our teeth. Floss is a great tool to do just this. Flossing shouldbeanessentialpartofany oral health care routine. Most national Dental Associations, including the American Dental Association, recommends floss- ing at least once a day to achieve optimal oral health. So why is it so important? We all want clean and healthy teeth. To get this we need to invest time each day to “brush” prop- erly. Our teeth have 5 surfaces and only 3 of them are properly cleaned by a toothbrush. In or- der to remove plaque from be- tween our teeth we need to use an interdental product. If we do not remove plaque regularly it will harden and could lead to a cavity and tartar. The area just under where two of our teeth meet is one of the most suscep- tible to cavities. Areas in our mouth which are difficult to get to, for example around our back molars and at the back of our teeth, also make them targets for plaque build-up and tartar. In Scandinavia, dentists recom- mend that children start using floss as early as when their per- manent teeth start to emerge, in other words before they are 10 years old. The American dental Association recommends that children start to floss when two teeth of their teeth touch. Paren- tal help is advised as it is difficult for children to master the tech- nique. Establishing this habit early and doing so on a daily basis is the best way to keep your teeth clean and your gums healthy. Flossing can also help prevent and reverse the early stage of gum disease, gingivitis. So why aren’t more people floss- ing? In our research¹ the three most important reason’s that we came across were: - A lot of people don’t floss be- cause they don’t think they need to. “I have no cavities or gum disease” -It’s a routine that is difficult to establish daily. “I don’t see the results”; “It’s boring”; “It takes too long” -It’s not easy finding the right products. “There are a lot of choices, I don’t know which ones is right for my needs”; “I don’t like having my hands in my mouth and it’s difficult to use” -A bad past experience stops continued use. “I don’t like that my floss shreds”; “My teeth are too tight” Jordan has a range of quality products designed for different consumers’ needs and lifestyles. Traditional floss is very effective but for some people it can be dif- ficult to master the technique. Research shows if you are a tra- ditional floss user, you are loyal to this format because you feel it is the most effective. Flossers are easy and convenient to use and we see more and more people choosing this as an alternative and sticking to it. This seems to be a good tool to recruit new us- ers. The Nr. 1 reason why people start to use floss is still because their dentist recommended it. So keep recommending and help them find the best floss product for them.