DENTAL FLOSS PICKS - ALTERNATIVE FOR DENTAL FLOSSING
- What are Dental Floss Picks?
- Types of Dental Floss Picks
- Floss Picks vs. Water Picks
- Avoid Using Toothpicks
What are Dental Floss Picks?
Are you frustrated when using standard dental floss? Do you find long pieces of floss difficult to handle, especially when you’re reaching behind your back teeth? If so, you’ll be glad to learn that there are other ways to floss your teeth. A dental floss pick is a small plastic tool with a curved end that holds a piece of dental floss. And there’s a bonus—the other end of a floss pick features a small plastic pick that can be used instead of a wooden toothpick to remove large food particles that can get caught along the gum line or between the teeth.
Types of Dental Floss Picks
Some floss picks are totally disposable and others have disposable, refillable heads. You can also buy floss picks that have specially designed handles with no-slip grips to make them even easier to hold. Some floss picks have an area that works as a tongue scraper, and others come in small sizes with child-friendly designs.
Want to go high-tech? You can choose a battery-powered floss pick, which does double duty—it vibrates to massage your gums while cleaning around them.
Floss Picks vs. Water Picks
Don't confuse a floss pick with a water pick. A water pick, also called a tooth irrigator or oral irrigator, aims a stream of water between your teeth. A water pick can help remove larger food particles from your teeth and stimulate your gums, and it can be a useful part of an oral care routine. But since it doesn’t actually clean the spaces between the teeth and along the gum line, it’s not a substitute for traditional tooth brushing or flossing with standard floss or another inter-dental product.
Avoid Using Toothpicks
One other “picking point”: Don’t use a toothpick to clean your teeth. Despite the name, a toothpick is not designed for dental cleaning, and it could break off and become stuck between your teeth. Opt for the floss pick instead.
