To ring in 2025, maybe you’ve decided to floss more often. It’d be great if that’s the case; frequent flossing would improve your oral health by leaps and bounds. Even so, sticking to a New Year’s resolution can get tricky amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life. That’s why your local Temple dentist is here to help you make your floss habit last. So, please keep reading to learn how to make flossing your New Year’s resolution.
Why Should You Floss Often?
Flossing doesn’t strike most as a thrilling resolution to have. Still, making it a daily habit would give your oral health a wonderful boost.
The truth is that a toothbrush alone won’t keep your smile healthy. It can’t clean all of your mouth’s hard-to-reach places, so it lets plaque grow in certain areas. Flossing addresses this issue by getting between your teeth and removing their tricky bacteria. As a result, it makes all sorts of oral problems much less likely.
How to Make Flossing a Regular Habit
If you really want to make flossing a long-term habit, try using the following tips:
Start with Small Goals
If you weren’t already a big flosser, you likely won’t shift to daily flossing overnight. Work your way up to that ideal by starting with smaller goals.
In particular, start out by flossing at least twice a week. Just making that a habit would do your grin some good. If you can hold to it for a few weeks or months, you can move toward flossing three, four, or even seven days a week.
Note the Risks of Failure
To stick with your flossing, consider noting the risks of failure. Knowing the downsides to giving up this habit would motivate you to pursue it.
To be exact, remember the oral problems you’ll get if you don’t floss. Gum disease is one such condition, as flossing gets rid of the plaque that inflames gum tissues. Others include loose teeth and even tooth loss, as well as diabetes, heart disease, etc.
Don’t be Discouraged by Bleeding
Doing something that makes you bleed can be nerve-wracking. However, don’t let the sight of blood discourage you from flossing.
Indeed, your gums may bleed if you haven’t flossed in a while. That just means they’ve become weak, inflamed, or infected; it doesn’t mean flossing will hurt them. On the contrary, using your floss more often will clear up the issue and make your gum tissues stronger.
Give Yourself Rewards
Changing habits can be a challenge, so rewarding yourself for flossing is a good idea. The positive reinforcement will make the habit more natural over time.
Various things can work as rewards, depending on your preferences. Maybe there’s a TV show you could give yourself permission to watch or an event that flossing lets you attend. Just make sure to tailor the reward to your interests; it’ll then be more compelling.
You should now grasp how to make flossing your New Year’s resolution. If you’d like further help, though, contact your dental provider!
About the Author
Dr. Richard Fossum is a dentist based in Temple, TX, having earned his DDS from the UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry. His training and education make him an expert in preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, as well as emergency dental care. That means patients of all ages can trust him (and his team) to make their smiles thrive! Today, Dr. Fossum practices at his self-titled clinic and is reachable on his website and by phone at (254)-831-4397.