Metal Mouth Message Board

I floss everynight before bed and I use 3 to 4 pieces of 15 inch floss (that's about 45 to 60 inches per day!)
I try not to use it too much but it feels dirty if I don't use a clean floss for every pocket of gum. So between two teeths there's 2 pockets and for each pocket I'd use clean floss. And between the last two molar it has really big gap so I'd go in and out of same pocket 3 times..

On my last visit to my dentist, they just used 12 inch floss for all of my teeth.. ( I extracted 4 premolars and 4 widon teeths) I do have less teeth than others but my dentist was using one section of floss to clean 2 pockets.. and I was grossed out..

Am I the only one here using exessive floss?

I'm the same. I use an arms length of floss.

I use about a 15 inch length. I just run it under the tap (faucet) if it looks gunky.

Lisa65 wrote:I use about a 15 inch length. I just run it under the tap (faucet) if it looks gunky.

Same here.
Though sometimes I end up using 2 pieces because the first piece gets kind of shredded catching on the brackets.

I'm a bit of a noob at this still, as it's only been a few weeks with braces, but I use at least four 6 inch sections a night. I prefer the smaller sections so I don't have to pull as much floss under my arch wires. With other random flossing I find myself doing after meals, I am grateful that Costco sells floss in bulk.

This topic makes me realize how completely and utterly lazy I am.

I have a small mouth and flossing is extremely difficult for me, esp the back molars ( top arch).

I alternate...one night waterpik, one night flossing...and now I feel guilty ha!

Seems like I go through about 20' per use, with a whole lot of slobber all over the place too.

I use two pieces, one for the top the other for the bottom, that total about 26 inches.

About 18". I thread it through the flossthreader and tie a knot so it says put. If I want to reuse the threader I just snip the floss off when I'm finished.

Oh dear.. how awful to admit...none

I never flossed beforehand and then have got threader stuff etc but find it too much of a faff. I use proxibrushes if I have anything stuck in my brackets but I was told to use it as well as not instead of floss.

But on my cleaning this week (my ortho insists all her patients have 3 monthly cleanings rather than the usual 6 months but I probably go more often as I find staining from tea worse with braces), I confessed to the hygienist I haven't flossed since I last saw her, she said really she should tell me off but in my case, I hardly have any plaque and didn't do before braces either, and clearly clean my teeth really well it wasn't the end of the world, not like some people who get lots of plaque even if they floss. Perhaps it's genetic.

I will try though...