The Survivalist Pledge:

To help all that can be helped,
To defend all that can be defended,
To save all that can be saved,
To free all that seek freedom,
To stay alive as long as I can and stay free as long as I live.

Bleeding gums every time I brushed my teeth was really getting me down. I couldn't understand why it was happening to me since I though I had a good diet--including plenty of raw fruits and vegetables. (I'd even tried regular and mega doses of vitamin C.) I had read about the importance of flossing one's teeth, but every time I had tried it, my gums bled alarmingly--even more than from brushing. I also found flossing difficult and time consuming. But eventually I decided to give flossing a long-term trial. The improvement was miraculous! After a few weeks, my gums no longer bled when I brushed. And soon after that, they didn't bleed when I flossed. I can gloss every other day and still have no bleeding when I brush. But with less than daily flossings, my gums start to bleed when I floss. So I floss every day. It's no longer difficult: practice has enabled me to do it in less than ten minutes (compared to the half hour it used to take). Joe McKeown DDS in Everybody's Tooth Book, recommends flossing at least once a day, but writes that after breakfast and before bed is even better BUT research has shown that it takes plaque 24 hours to "regroup."

In the beginning, I had agonizing trouble with floss breaking and the remnants lodging between my teeth. My remedial efforts only added more floss and greater agony. Finally, I got the idea of passing a stronger, thicker cord through my teeth to dislodge the stuck wad. A piece of waxed, five-cord, linen saddle-stitching thread did the trick. I've since discovered that a few strands of my regular unwaxed floss, twisted together and rubbed with beeswax, is also effective. (Unwaxed floss is used normally because it cleans better. However, Dr. McKeown recommends waxed floss to beginners to make learning easier. After proficiency is attained, one should switch to the unwaxed variety.)

To avoid getting floss stuck between my teeth in the first place, I now follow this procedure: 1) Because I'm most patient when I first begin, I do the worst places first (viz., between those teeth where the floss is most prone to get hung up). 2) When removing floss from these difficult places, I pull it out between the teeth at the gum line. ditto between any teeth that have fillings which might be dislodged if the floss were pulled out towards the biting surfaces of the teeth. 3) I move to fresh floss for each trouble sport because unused, unfrayed floss has less tendency to get caught. 4) Then I finish the easy places. I insert the floss carefully, without snapping into the gum, then move the floss down around the base of the tooth, hugging the tooth to avoid catching the gum, and sweep towards the biting surface with firm pressure; I do this 2-3 times on each side of each tooth (as recommended by Thomas McGuire, DDS, in The Tooth Trip (Random House, '72).

To save floss, I leave it attached to the spool when using it, unwinding as much as I need without breaking it off. Thus, if/when it breaks, I'm not left with two short, unusable pieces. By starting between the incisors, or behind the molars, and moving the floss over the tops of my teeth, noticing each time the floss takes a dip, I can count teeth and thereby know where I am without recourse to a mirror. I can even floss in the dark. I've found some brands of floss better than others. POH, put out by Oral Health Products (Oklahoma) is thinner than most other regular floss but at the same time it's strong so that it passes into tight places well without breaking. I think it would have made learning easier if I'd known about it then. Safeway's floss is thicker but also a strong floss which seems to fray/break less than BiMart's, Thrifty's, or Johnson's.

There may be some people who can maintain a healthy mouth without any special attention. But I'm not one of them. Consequently, I've accepted flossing as a part of my daily routine. Now I can say, "Look Ma, no more bleeding gums."

 

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