Pain in my fingers from wrapping floss around them
Pain in my lips and cheeks from stretching my mouth open to reach back teeth
The bleeding gums go away after flossing regularly for a while. After trying several other flossing tools, I found one that solves the other two problems: the Reach Access Flosser. Its sole downside is that you have to periodically replenish your supply of disposable heads, but this is not very expensive, and the reward is healthier teeth.
I started using this maybe something like five years ago, and it turned me into a flosser after decades of being a non-flosser, so I’m an evangelist for it now.
You can sort of substitute oil rinsing, but I’m not positive they have exactly the same disease prevention effects. It’s certainly better than nothing.
I guess I might as well use an alcohol-free mouthwash, then.
(I’ve heard that “Natural News” has a tendency to publish crankish alternative medicine stories, so I went to Google; there is some evidence indicating a link, but it’s pretty weak and might not actually mean much of anything.)
I really don’t like flossing. Can I substitute antiseptic mouthwash instead?
I used to hate flossing too:
Bleeding gums
Pain in my fingers from wrapping floss around them
Pain in my lips and cheeks from stretching my mouth open to reach back teeth
The bleeding gums go away after flossing regularly for a while. After trying several other flossing tools, I found one that solves the other two problems: the Reach Access Flosser. Its sole downside is that you have to periodically replenish your supply of disposable heads, but this is not very expensive, and the reward is healthier teeth.
I started using this maybe something like five years ago, and it turned me into a flosser after decades of being a non-flosser, so I’m an evangelist for it now.
I mostly have problems with #1.
I lost some manual dexterity in one of my hands, and my dentist recommended a water flosser. I think waterpik is the brand, seems to work well.
You can sort of substitute oil rinsing, but I’m not positive they have exactly the same disease prevention effects. It’s certainly better than nothing.
Listerine and similar antiseptic mouthwashes are supposed to be effective against gingivitis and tooth decay, which is why I asked.
Listerine doesn’t work vs gingivitis for me.
While I don’t think the evidence is as strong as the language in this article would imply, I do err on the side of the alcohol being bad. http://www.naturalnews.com/025581_mouthwash_cancer_alcohol.html#
I guess I might as well use an alcohol-free mouthwash, then.
(I’ve heard that “Natural News” has a tendency to publish crankish alternative medicine stories, so I went to Google; there is some evidence indicating a link, but it’s pretty weak and might not actually mean much of anything.)