Flossing Guide for Kids and Parents

Most people know that daily brushing and flossing and ongoing dental cleanings are key to maintaining their dental health. However, while it’s easy to reach for a toothbrush twice a day, many people skip the flossing portion. They might think that since the surfaces of their teeth may look fine, they don’t have any need to floss. Unfortunately, the spaces between your teeth could harbor harmful plaque and bacteria. Over time, this can cause cavities, gum disease or periodontitis, which can lead to tooth loss. Recent research may have found a link between gum disease and heart disease and diabetes. That’s why we’ve developed this flossing guide for kids to encourage parents and children to have the discussion about flossing at a much earlier stage.

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Flossing Guide for Kids

It’s easy to think that these problems won’t affect your child until they are older, but their mouths can be vulnerable to cavities and gum disease. Daily flossing is a powerful preventive measure which can help to protect the health of teeth and gums. Teaching your children early about the importance of flossing can help them build healthy habits which can last them their whole lives.

Why Flossing Is Important

Daily flossing is a vital component of any dental health regimen. Throughout the day, the food you eat can feed bacteria in your mouth, which form a thin biofilm near the gumline. In as little as 12 hours, this film can turn into plaque, which can later harden into tartar. Thanks to its rough surfaces, tartar provides the perfect breeding ground and safe haven for harmful bacteria, allowing them to continuously colonize your mouth. Brushing can help to break up and remove much of the plaque that forms on the sides of your teeth. However, the bristles of your toothbrush simply can’t remove the plaque that forms between your teeth. With dental floss, you can reach into those hard-to-reach places along your gumline between your teeth. Neither brushing or flossing alone are sufficient to clean your mouth. Both complement the other, and each must be done daily to protect your dental health.

At What Age Should My Child Start Flossing?

As soon as your child’s baby teeth emerge, they will need to be cleaned regularly. Plaque can begin forming on your child’s teeth at any age, and even children can be vulnerable to dental decay. Your child will need to floss as soon as two of their teeth touch. For some children this may occur early on, and for others it may not occur until after age three.  At first, you will have to take some time each day to floss their teeth for them. However, as soon as their dexterity improves, usually by about age ten, your child will probably be able to to floss on their own. Teaching your child about the importance of flossing from an early age can help to instill healthy habits in them which can save them from poor dental health as adults. Show them the proper technique and use floss designed for children so they don’t hurt their gums. With your help, they can learn the best ways to preserve the health of their teeth and gums.

Related: How Often Should I Take My Kid to a Children’s Dentist?

How Often Should We Floss?

While brushing too many times in a day can hurt your gums and erode the enamel from your teeth, there aren’t any limits on how often you can floss. Oftentimes, people who complain about pain from flossing too often are simply using improper techniques. However, it’s only necessary to floss your teeth once per day to obtain the oral health benefits associated with it. It takes about a full day for plaque to harden between your teeth while it can do so in far less time on the sides of your teeth. Unless you have a piece of food or other debris stuck between your teeth, there’s usually no need to floss throughout the day.

It’s important to use the right methods, along with ADA approved floss, to avoid injuring yourself or your child. If you are flossing your child’s teeth, you may want to experiment with several different varieties to find the one that works best for their mouth. Take about eighteen inches of floss and wrap them around your forefingers, leaving about an inch of floss between. Gently move the floss back and forth to slide it between teeth that are close together. Move it up and down to the gum line along the backsides of each tooth. Unwind a new section of floss from your fingers for each tooth, to prevent yourself from simply moving plaque from one tooth to another.  If your child is young floss threaders or holders may be more efficient.

Related: 15 Child Dental Care Tips for Healthy Smiles

When Is the Best Time to Floss: Morning or Night?

Since it takes time for plaque to build up between your teeth, you can choose when to floss that works best for your needs. It is important to maintain a consistent time when you floss, so make sure you pick a time that you can stick with over the long-term. Many people choose to floss at night before they go to bed. This allows them to remove food particles that built up throughout the day. Salivary production tends to decline at night, making your mouth more vulnerable to acid-producing bacteria. This means that any food particles that remain lodged between your teeth at night could be especially destructive.

Whatever time you decide, it is important to remain consistent. As to whether or not you should floss before or after brushing, there are advantages and drawbacks to both strategies. Flossing before you brush makes it easier to dislodge food particles, but flossing after brushing could make it easier to remove plaque. Take some time to find which strategies work best for your child.

How to Floss With Braces

If your child is going to need braces, their routine dental care regimen will have to adapt to the changes. Flossing can be difficult for your child if they have braces, but it is essential that they continue to do so daily. Their teeth are still vulnerable to plaque buildups, cavities, and gum disease could undo all the changes their braces can make. One helpful tool which can allow your child to maintain their dental health is a threader. This inexpensive, disposable tool can be found in most drugstores and acts as a guide for the floss. Simply tie several inches of floss to a threader and move it through the metalwork of the braces. This will need to be done for each individual tooth. Once the floss is through, untie it from the threader and use it to clear the space between the tooth. While this process can be time-consuming, it is necessary. It allows your child to floss between their teeth and remove plaque before it hardens into tartar, which can be especially difficult to remove if your child has braces.

While it is easy to overlook, daily flossing is crucial to overall dental health. It complements the work of brushing, which alone is not enough to remove all the plaque that can build up on your teeth. If you have children, it’s important to teach the them the value of flossing from an early age. Many cases cavities, gum and periodontal disease could be averted with a daily flossing regimen. Neglecting to floss means your child could experience pain and require expensive procedures to repair problems that could have been avoided through simple daily maintenance. With regular care and the tips provided in this flossing guide for kids, you can protect your child’s smile for years to come.