14 lines
730 B
Plaintext
14 lines
730 B
Plaintext
Flossing is important to overall oral health.
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Even by itself, flossing does a good job of cleaning teeth and gums,
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and is the only way to clean below the gumline.
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However it has an important secondary purpose as well. Most people assume
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the point of brushing teeth is to scrub the teeth with bristles. This
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is not fully true; the more significant purpose of brushing is to apply
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fluoride to teeth. If you don't floss, food particles are left between
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the teeth and gums, blocking fluoride from reaching tooth surfaces. It
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is then as if you were not brushing at all. Even if no material is
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visible between teeth, there is probably some there. Flossing can pull
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a surprising amount of gunk from a mouth that appears totally clean.
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