• palordrolap@fedia.io
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    1 day ago

    My weakest gums are weak precisely because I floss there more often.

    Those locations happen to be where there’s a natural gap between teeth, they’re the first place food gets stuck and the first place I have to take a toothpick or floss to. Gentle as I am, that still takes a toll on the gum between them.

    There’s also been a feedback loop of food getting stuck there making those gaps wider over time, meaning larger food getting stuck and more flossing. Over the course of a few decades, tiny movements add up.

    The dentists I’ve seen are clueless what to suggest; suggesting I floss less would make their heads explode.

    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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      10 hours ago

      i have one area with a gap, but its due to a root canaled tooth, i use the floss picks instead of the strings. it gets food more stuck often.

      • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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        10 hours ago

        ive used it, they are very strong jet of water even for the lowest setting, so becareful they can “cut” you. also its messy if you dont close your mouth. i would slide water pik across your teeth, close to the gums(dont put directly on the gums because it can irritate it). close your mouth when your using the water jet.

        they arnt a replacement for a floss though, i use floss picks, REACH BRAND has a really long handle for the backteeth flosses, the flosshead is orientated to work on the back teeth, rather than on the side for the front teeth. the long handle means you dont need put your dirty hands into the mouth like with the shorter picks, or the floss strings. (these do fray, and becomes thinner and it can potentially irritate the gums) i would slide it gently.

        for the water pik, i bought off-brand water pik with 250-300ml water storage, with more settings than the more expensive sonicare/waterpik brands.

      • Hawke@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        That what my dentist recommended for similar problems, along with a fix to a filling there that was causing food to get stuck more than expected.

    • village604@adultswim.fan
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      23 hours ago

      It sounds like either genetics or user error. I have a permanent retainer and I have to floss hard around those teeth to prevent calculus buildup, and their gum line is the strongest in my mouth.

      • palordrolap@fedia.io
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        21 hours ago

        It’s hard to be sure on the genetics front. There’s evidence to suggest there might be some weaknesses there, but then most of my ancestors and relatives who have had severe problems have all been smokers, and I’m not.

    • TheRealKuni@piefed.social
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      1 day ago

      I had a similar situation, then they gave me a cavity filling on one of the teeth and the gap went away. Maybe they can fake a filling to fill the gap? 🤣