As every dentist will tell you, flossing your teeth is a very important part of practicing good dental hygiene. Your toothbrush may not be able to adequately remove hard-to-reach germs and food particles and flossing your teeth daily will ensure that you are removing all the plaque from your pearly whites. However, we also realize that life gets busy and you may find yourself frequently on-the-go, preventing you from flossing as much as you’d like. If that’s the case for you, here are our top three flossing alternatives when you don’t have to time to pull out your dental floss.

1. Sugar Free Chewing Gum

Chewing a piece of sugar free gum after a meal can help remove leftover food particles from your teeth. When you chew gum, it promotes saliva-production, and saliva helps rid your mouth of germs that can cause cavities. Even more helpfully, chew gum such as Ice Breakers Ice Cubes or Trident which contain the ingredient xylitol. Xylitol is a natural sweetener that promotes saliva production.

2. Floss Picks

If you find yourself constantly in the car transporting kids here and there, or you’re continuously moving from one meeting to the next, you may feel like you don’t have the time, space, or privacy to pull out a long piece of string and floss your teeth. In this case, floss picks may be the right alternative for you. A floss pick is a small plastic tool that has a piece of dental floss stretched tightly at the curved ending of the pick. The other end of the pick is sharp and narrow and can be used similarly to a toothpick in order to remove hard-to-reach food particles. You use a floss pick much like you use traditional dental floss, sliding the floss gently up-and-down and in between your teeth.

3. Interdental Brushes

Much like floss picks, you may find it more convenient to use an interdental brush as an alternative to flossing. An interdental brush has a small handle with tiny bristles at the end that fit in between your teeth. Some people find using an interdental brush is actually a faster process than traditional flossing.

Remember, flossing daily is still our number one recommendation for preventing cavities and maintaining a bright and healthy smile. If you find yourself struggling to find the time to floss every day, make sure you are still brushing your teeth thoroughly at least twice a day as brushing is the most effective way to clean your teeth and gums. We also highly recommend seeing us at Cornerstone Family Dentistry twice a year for a routine teeth cleaning and checkup.