Bad breath is anathema to confidence. It can downgrade your social life, make your coworkers give you a wide berth, and cause you continual embarrassment. If you struggle with halitosis, a visit to your dentist in Harrisonburg may be the key to freshening your mouth and getting your mouth back in conversation-ready condition. At your appointment, you may discover that flossing your teeth daily is all you need to do to enjoy fresher breath.
What Causes Bad Breath
There are two types of bad breath. One type is what you experience after you eat certain foods, like garlic or onions. In such cases, you usually just have to wait out the stink because the bad smell is actually coming from your lungs, not your mouth.
The other type of bad breath is halitosis. It’s is caused by an excess of odor-causing bacteria that builds up in the mouth.
How Flossing Fights Halitosis
When you brush your teeth, you’re getting rid of plaque and food that builds up on your teeth. This helps to control the amount of bacteria in your mouth, but brushing by itself isn’t enough to win the battle against bad breath. Your toothbrush cannot reach the tight spaces between your teeth where bacteria and tiny food particles food like to hang out.
That’s where flossing comes in. That thin piece of string can remove the bad stuff that gets stuck between your pearly whites, thereby preventing bacteria buildup and helping you win the fight against bad breath.
Another way flossing helps to battle bad breath is that it plays an important role in preventing gum disease, one of the symptoms of which is halitosis.
Make Flossing Part of Your Daily Routine
Some folks choose to carry around little dental flossers with them so they can clean their teeth after a meal. That’s a good idea, but it won’t stop you from needing to give your teeth a thorough flossing each night. To make your flossing as effective as possible, you should study up on proper flossing technique:
- Start with about 18 inches of floss. Wind most of it around one middle finger, and just a little bit around the other middle finger.
- Keep one or two inches of floss taut between your hands, and gently move it up and down along the sides of your teeth.
- As you go from tooth to tooth, unroll floss from one finger and wrap it around the finger on your opposite hand. This ensures that you aren’t reusing the same section of floss to clean your whole mouth.
Flossing can be one of your best friends when it comes to keeping a fresh mouth! Do your best to incorporate this habit into your everyday life, and you may soon notice that you have a cleaner, more confident smile.
About the Author
Dr. Mario DeNicola is one of three dentists in our practice. As a member of the American Dental Association and the Academy of General Dentistry, he is well-qualified to help his patients master their oral hygiene routine and win the battle against halitosis. If you would like to talk to him about how you can enjoy a healthier mouth, contact our office at 540-432-6616.