A good periodontal program is the
place to start, using masking products before ensuring that your oral tissues
are healthy may leave you with the same odor and dentures to go along with
it. The place to start is at your Dentist with a thorough evaluation of
the source of the odor and the periodontal status of your oral tissues.
How important
is flossing the teeth?
Research,
for the most part, suggests that flossing is a very important addition to tooth brushing. It is important to use floss properly,
following professional instruction. Remember to floss around the ends of the
teeth at the ends of each row. Children would probably have problems flossing, since it requires a delicate
control of the fingers they don't have yet. One of the great advantages of using
floss, is that you can smell the floss directly following each passage between
the teeth, and clean the smelly areas more diligently. Consult your dentist or hygienist for
instructions for proper flossing.
Are
toothpicks important?
Some recommend anatomical (triangular) toothpicks, rather than floss.
There are several reasons for this. Many dentists feel that people are too
lazy to use floss on a regular basis, and feel that toothpicks are a
reasonable substitute. Some patients have larger spaces between their
teeth, making them more suitable for using toothpicks, proxabrushes or the
like.
The advantage of using non-scented toothpicks, particularly plastic ones,
is that, similar to floss, you can smell the toothpick between each
passage and get a very good idea of the places that are causing the odor.
These are the places you want to clean most carefully.
One disadvantage of the toothpicks is that they cannot clean behind the
last teeth in each row, whereas floss can. Since usually the smell gets
worse as you progress from the front teeth working back, a lot of smelly
bacteria can be hiding behind the last teeth, particularly if the end
tooth in the row is a wisdom tooth.
