THE MOMENT I DISCOVERED FLOSSING

I flossed this morning and it felt good!

Ok before you guys pounce on me for oversharing, let me give you the background story… Growing up in Nigeria, I was not taught to floss my teeth, infact no one in my family or at my boarding school did. The first time I heard about flossing was when I had to visit a dentist because my wisdom tooth was throbbing which was well in my 20’s.

“Temi, you’ve got beautiful dentition however you have cavities which need to be filled” wow what an irony!

He then asked if I flossed daily and I replied “what does that mean?” #dairyofanigeriangirl lol hmmm the sermon I heard that day ehn! He went on about how brushing does not remove plaque completely and so I have to floss after brushing to take out the remaining plaque: in my mind I was like oyinbo pipu! then he wanted to know if I had considered using an electric toothbrush and I was like don’t go there man! The pack of hard smokers brush that I ordered from Naija is still serving me well.

Anyways I ignored the warning. Partly cos I went in for a different reason (which turned out to be quite serious and had to have it removed eventually), and partly cos I find the toothbrushes here are so soft of course they would need to floss daily! *eyes rolling*

Fast forward to now, after several dentist visits (with plenty plaque removal), 3 cavity fillings and 2 wisdom teeth removed, the same thing keeps coming up do you floss? How often?

The truth is I just do not know how to! I’ve bought different types and I just don’t feel comfortable using them. They either rip when I use them or it feels ackward and hard to fit in my teeth. Recently my dentist mentioned to try interdental as they are easier to use than floss but I never got round to buying one😆 besides it looks like it would hurt if I used it #justsaying

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I did have a breakthrough during maternity leave. I met this dentist close to my house (my usual dentist is close to work) and she was of black heritage, she suggested to get a really strong dental floss that looked like a tooth pick. Because my teeth are quite tightly packed so normal floss would snag or rip if I used it.