this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2025
709 points (95.4% liked)

Comic Strips

20223 readers
1770 users here now

Comic Strips is a community for those who love comic stories.

The rules are simple:

Web of links

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 16 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

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.

[–] nightofmichelinstars@sopuli.xyz 21 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I've heard good things about water picks.

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I like mine. Use warm water or it hurts.

[–] Rooster326@programming.dev 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Also add salt to the water particularly at the beginning when you are bleeding. It helps a lot.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 2 weeks ago

mouthwash helps to, it soothes it. CPC mouthwash i think its best for the gum area, but flouride was works too.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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.

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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 2 points 2 weeks 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 2 points 2 weeks 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? 🤣

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 2 weeks 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.