How to floss?

We all remember the legendary scene in Pretty Woman in which Julia Roberts almost embarrassingly hides her dental floss from Richard Gere.

When we saw it, we were all shocked: what was that floss that was passed between her teeth? What was it for? Hollywood, apart from frantic chases, has taught us much more. We have seen radiant smiles and floss walking through them.

In the following article we’ll show you how to floss properly.

First of all, we MUST start by debunking a number of myths:

1.’…flossing will damage the gums’.

2.’…flossing will damage the support of the teeth.

3.’…the gum will bleed all the time.

Once we are clear about these three things, we can learn how to use it correctly.

Here we go:

1. Wrap 45 centimetres of floss around the middle finger of each hand. Squeeze the floss between your thumbs and forefingers, leaving 2 or 3 centimetres of floss between each finger.

Hold 2 to 3 centimetres of floss stretched between fingers. Use your index fingers to guide the floss between the contact surfaces of the lower teeth.

3. Gently guide the floss between the teeth using a “zig-zag” motion. CAREFULLY INSERT THE FLOSS BETWEEN THE TEETH. Insert the floss around the tooth.

4. Slide the floss from top to bottom over the tooth surface and also under the gum. Clean each tooth thoroughly with a clean section of floss.

It’s that easy!