 Hello everybody Andrea Tresca here with dental L tutoring. I apologize about the mess. We have moved But now all of our boxes are pretty much everywhere because we just haven't had time to unpack them all yet in my office It's fairly clean, but I don't have enough light and I have um, I'm looking up What do you call them the rain lights on Amazon because I need more lights for this But I'm doing my research, so I haven't ordered one yet, but I will and probably about a week Okay, so then I will always have light. I should be in a nice clean office soon enough So sorry about the mess behind me, but in the video today I would like to talk to you guys about how to floss and I don't know why I never thought about this before but um I had somebody ask me on my YouTube channel to show you all how to so whether you are a patient Watching this or a person watching this or if you're a dental assistant or a dental hygienist Who wants to know how to talk to their patients about how to floss because there's a right way and there's a wrong way And if you're not shown or taught then how do you know right like that's okay like that's normal so first things first is a Lot of people ask me what type of floss should I buy? It depends on the person honestly some people like thicker floss some people like thinner floss I love thin floss I have bought a cheat You know floss in the past and I just hated it so much that I I Tried to floss, but I'm like no like I can't even do this So I find that if you don't like the floss that that you are using you won't floss So so then you think you hate to floss, but you're probably just using the wrong floss So find one that you like. I actually like this one here I'll try to focus. Oh, it's so bright. You guys can't really see it But it's a nice thin floss and I like the one Called actually, sorry. Let me see if this is easier to show you guys To try to focus there we go Kind of but not really But I do also like or will be satin floss if you guys have a Costco depending on where you live They typically sell them at Costco and it's a lot cheaper because you get them like a pack of four or five or something And they're awesome So flossing so what you want to tell your patients is to use the Half length of their arms. So does everybody see that? Sorry. It's kind of hard to show you guys But half length so that's the length you want take it off Let whoops that kind of ripped a little bit and then wrap it around your middle finger Okay, your middle Fingers here and use your index finger to sort of show you where you want it to go It takes practice. Okay, so do not think okay. I can't do this. What's happening? It takes practice you guys honestly When I was learning how to be a dental assistant many many years ago when I was 19 Having to floss somebody else's teeth. I had the hardest time. It took me forever. So it takes practice So wrap it around your middle finger use your index fingers to sort of show you guys where you want it to go I didn't think to get teeth to show you so I'm going to show you guys on my teeth So I'm sorry if it looks kind of weird, but I'll show you guys I guess on a front on like a front tooth area So what I want you guys to do so the middle finger index finger and kind of go up like this It's kind of hard to see his name and in a C shape emotion towards the tooth. So like this see that and The key is to use a C shape Shape against the tooth. So you are actually taking the plaque off because if you do this Like your car. No, that's it. You're not sort of getting all of the plaque So does that make sense? So think think about this way like this is your tooth. It's really bright Let me just kind of shut the window here. See if that helps. Does that help a little bit? Actually, I think it does I hope now it's not too dark, but so a C shape Against your tooth. So think of my finger as a tooth like this because if you're Simply doing this you're missing this whole area of the tooth. So let me try that again So let me show you guys I guess and see say like this. I guess like that Sorry, that's really hard to do in front of a webcam. So see how I do not want you doing this Does everybody see how that's too quick and it just simply does not work. So I want you to do this So does everybody see how I'm doing that like C shape against the tooth about three times So up down up down up down about three times on each side So over here and over here, and I'm sorry something just popped up again. So let me just cancel those little suckers out There we go So does everybody see that so that's how I want you all to show your Patience how to floss and if you're a person That's how to floss and make sure to do all of the teeth Okay. Yes, it is harder to reach the ones in the back I'll try to show you here, but it might be kind of hard to see it's normal that it's a little bit harder It is harder for everybody If this is just too hard for you to use there's Something out there called the floss picks which I thought I had a sample, but of course I can't find them They are excellent. So it's kind of like a thin piece of Floss on like a stick So that you can hang on to the handle and then use the floss that way So that's up to you, but for the back teeth Again wrapping around the middle finger and use your index and you may have to even use your thumbs too to sort of angle it like for my top teeth It's easiest for me to use my my index here Oh But I pull it out with my thumbs and let's see on the bottom how that works Okay, so I use my index fingers, but I pull them out with my thumbs It takes practice, but it's so important you guys to do it every single day Honestly, because if you don't you're missing all of that plaque and that plaque stays there Then it causes cavities and then stain happens and then your teeth become sore and then you have tartar It's just a big mess. Trust me. So floss every day I like to floss if I'm actually sitting in front of the TV So if I'm watching a movie or or a show or something That's when I like to do it because I'm sitting there anyway I Don't think I have ever flossed before sleeping because I'm just too tired at that point But that's just me. I know some people like to floss in the in the shower I have other things to do in the shower. So I don't have time to floss either But some people like that, right? But I flossed while I'm watching TV and that's what I tell a lot of my patients unless you need to use a mirror Which I do happen to have one here Then you can't Do it in front of the TV unless you have a mirror near the TV, right? So that's okay, too Like some people need to use a mirror and some people don't that's okay Just whatever is the easiest for you and something else that I should mention It is possible to floss too hard. So be careful. So you have to be thorough But don't floss too hard. So with the flossing you want to go in between the teeth Until you feel the area stop So you don't want to hurt yourself and go like in there But make sure to reach the bottom of the tooth. So does that make sense? Well, all right. Yeah But I've seen a lot of people who are like You know and that can hurt you so don't hurt yourself and if you're not sure how to do it Then talk to your dental assistant or your dental hygienist and they will will show you like I show people how to floss at least Every time I work at least once in a day because it's not the easiest thing So do not be a shame to ask so everybody so I hope that helped if you guys have questions Just let me know