ref: 88d08edecc4c24d4ad0cca3d15ab01090a559de9
dir: /femtolisp/FLOSSING/
Flossing is important to overall oral health. Even by itself, flossing does a good job of cleaning teeth and gums, and is the only way to clean below the gumline. However it has an important secondary purpose as well. Most people assume the point of brushing teeth is to scrub the teeth with bristles. This is not fully true; the more significant purpose of brushing is to apply fluoride to teeth. If you don't floss, food particles are left between the teeth and gums, blocking fluoride from reaching tooth surfaces. It is then as if you were not brushing at all. Even if no material is visible between teeth, there is probably some there. Flossing can pull a surprising amount of gunk from a mouth that appears totally clean.