• What's your favorite dental floss for closely spaced teeth?

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  • Some of my teeth are very close together, and there are fillings between them, so they shred floss like crazy, plus I have to use a threader to get the floss between those teeth in the first place. Reach is too thick, POH shreds, as does the Glide Comfort Plus...so what's your favorite thin, strong, shred-resistant floss? Thanks!

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    Question by mamayama
    02/08/2017

Being a dentist, I use several different types/brands of floss.  Probably my favorite for tight teeth is Oral B Glide.  It is lightly waxed, thin and strong.  One hint is that if you have something stuck between your teeth ie, popcorn shell tie a knot in the floss and pull it through the contact area and voila! it usually removes the debris.

Answer by willy33
02/10/2017
5 Favorites

I’m in a similar situation and I use Plackers ( mounted on light green plastic ). They’re cheap, but the strands are thinner than other brands and do not shred easily ! 

Answer by teabee
02/12/2017

My current favorite is Johnson&Johnson’s Listerine Ultraclean: It slips easily between teeth, but doesn’t slip on my fingers and rarely breaks. I also alternate flossing with using interdental brushes: my impression is that they are somewhat better at removing particles lodged between my teeth, though they can’t reach the tighter interdental spaces.

Answer by arbutus
02/17/2017

I’ve been using Glide floss for a long time, but moving to a Waterpik is a lot easier, doesn’t hurt as much (when the floss snaps down into my gums) and the Dentist’s hygienist sees an improvement too.

I still use the floss when I travel though…

Answer by Wayne Ruffner
02/18/2017

Last year I picked up Colgate floss from the dollar store just to try and it was one of the best I had tried (I have fairly tight teeth). Went back looking for some, and of course they haven’t had any since. I’ve checked in other stores since and no luck. Next time I see it I’m buying the whole lot   Oral B Glide is also very good.

Answer by mimmo
02/18/2017

I have very tightly spaced teeth and I use Equate Mint Waxed Dental Floss - Walmart.com. It is very thin and the wax acts as a dry lubricant to help the floss slip through tight spaces. I also use, and recommend using, a Butler GUM Flossmate Handle.

This handle allows you to get the floss really tight, a requirement for teeth that are close together. Before I discovered it I could not floss my teeth. I still have to 'saw' the tightened floss back and forth to get into a few really tightly spaced teeth. I use a length of floss about an arm's length long. I anchor one end on the button, making several turns, then thread it along the 'Y' and, pulling it very tight, make several more turns around the button, wrap it around the handle, and make several more turns so the waxed floss cannot slip. This is key. I do one quadrant at a time, wrapping the used part of the floss around the handle. This way, if there is any fraying, I get a new section for each quadrant. The beauty of this handle is that you can use any floss and it is much tighter than disposable floss handles ever dreamed possible.

Answer by laral
02/18/2017

Answer by laral
02/18/2017

I use floss picks, I found that the cheaper the floss pick, the better because the cheaper ones have thinner floss which fits between my teeth better.  I use which are a pack of 60 for about $1.50 at dollar-store type places.  I can not recommend floss picks enough, they make flossing so much easier.  I’ve gone from flossing once a week to nearly every day.

I tried to include an image and a link, but apparently that\'s not ok.  So you\'ll have to google for \"aim precision\" to find out what they look like.

Answer by reanime
02/18/2017

I apologize for not having a specific recommendation, but if you do find that no floss is really successful in getting at the space in between your teeth, you could raise the issue with your dentist because it’s possible the restorations have jagged edges or overhangs that he/she could take care of and make flossing easier. That said, water flossing instruments such as the Waterpik are great, but not recommended as a complete replacement for mechanical flossing.

Answer by bertus
02/18/2017

I think reanime might have been talking about something like these:

http://www.gumbrand.com/between-teeth-cleaning/picks.html

I have very tight teeth and these are the best thing I’ve found.

Answer by gooberoo
02/21/2017
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