Do you floss your teeth?

Yes. I never used to- or did but not that much at all really, maybe a few times a week if food got stuck. But then I had some real dental issues- not caused by not flossing but made worse for it. I was lucky enough to have some really major restorative work on my teeth, I narrowly missed dentures which at my age when it was done (not old enough for dentures by a few decades!) I am so grateful! The Dentist treating me had said I needed to improve my "dental hygiene" and I really didn't know what he meant. He mentioned flossing and using the interdental brushes and I said I did these things- though I wasn't lying the frequency was weekly rather than daily (or several times daily as he had intended). Fact is it really hurt to do those things! My gums were permanently inflamed and it was a rare month I didn't need to see my Dentist at least twice for reasons of infection, decay or some sort of tooth loss. I'd have fillings that wouldn't stay in place and actually got used to what I now recognise was the sensation of constant gum inflammation. I had wrongly assumed this was all down to having my tooth enamel wear right down and things feeling more sensitive. But actually a lot of it was because old unremoved food had gotten packed right in and down into the small gap between my tooth and the gum. You can't brush it out once it gets that far, but you can stop it getting there by brushing very very well (at least 5 mins 2x a day is how much I brush, all 3 sides of the tooth and 5 sides on some teeth where I've lost the residing teeth). Then floss and interdental brushes- and there is a right way to do either of those things, if you don't know how, ask your Dentist, if you can afford one get a hygienist appointment even if you can only afford the first one, just hear the advice and copy. But a warning; those appointments are not pain free and are not easy going! I now floss daily. I do this because I know if I don't, food will get packed down where it shouldn't be again. It will eat away at my tooth and cause breakages. It will lead to decay and infection, it will irritate my gums and mean they are then inflamed. I had such inflamed gums that I couldn't use an electric brush for years. I did brush but my gums would always bleed. I wasn't in any pain when the bled, they were just that inflamed. When you brush you're not supposed to push on the gums too hard, I wasn't brushing the gums at all, it was just the limited amount of brushing where the "light" bristles touched the gum. Please do not let this happen to you! I was lucky to be able to get dental help, most will not get this same help. I was lucky. Few people will be, the least you can do is prevent your teeth getting as bad as mine did. I've just had a friend lose her teeth to dentures and she was in her 20's. I was in my early 40's when I narrowly missed having them and I flossed at all before then- if you're not flossing at all it's likely you're not able to clean effectively and it's only a matter of time.