17.9 Demonstrating Brushing & Flossing Techniques

Vocabulary ● Carious lesions: prevention of decay ● Plaque: a thin, tenacious, filmlike deposit that adheres to the teeth and can lead to decay. ● Halitosis: bad breath

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Surface on Each Tooth Must Be Cleaned ● Chewing or Biting surface ● Facial Surface ● Lingual Surface ● Side, or Interproximal Surface

● Use a soft textured brush to prevent gum damage Procedure

● Rotate the brush slightly and gently push the bristles between the teeth

● Use a very short, back and forth, vibrating movement to clean the teeth

● Move the brush to the next group of teeth and repeat the steps

● Brush the biting surface of all teeth. Place the brush on the surface of the teeth.Use a very, short vibrating motion. Move the brush to next area. Repeat until all biting surface is clean.

● Make sure the area between the teeth must be cleaned with floss.

● Flossing is the way to remove food and plaque from between the teeth. This prevents decaying between the teeth where its not brush enough. Demonstrating Flossing Techniques

● Remove 12 to 18 inches of floss from the spool.

● Wrap the floss around the middle finger of both hands. As the floss is used, unroll new floss from the middle finger of one hand and wrap used floss around the opposite finger.

● Keep the fingers and thumb approximately 1 to 2 inches apart. This is the length of floss being used.

● Gently insert the floss between the teeth. Do not snap the floss into the gums.

●Curve the floss into a C-shape around the side of the tooth.

● Hold the floss tightly against the tooth and move the floss away from the gum by scraping the floss up and down against the side of the tooth.

● Repeat the steps to very teeth. Always use fresh floss all the time.