7 Best Floss & Dental Flossers According to A Dental Hygienist 

Flossing is an essential element of a healthy smile. Without it, it's only a matter of time before cavities or gum disease start to form between your teeth. Having the best floss on hand will make cleaning your teeth easier and more effective so that your smile stays healthy in the years ahead. As they say, just floss the teeth you want to keep!

Why Dental Floss?

Clean In Between Your Teeth Is So Important

The spaces between your teeth are some of the first to develop gum disease and tooth decay, specifically because of the acids being secreted by food or plaque bacteria. When you're using the best dental floss and physically rubbing those germs off of your teeth each day, you're able to maintain a healthy environment. Without flossing, gingivitis, gum disease (periodontitis), bone loss, cavities, and new infections around existing dental work are pretty much inevitable.

Even non-teeth like dental implants and bridges still need to be flossed around every day. Plaque can still stick to them, causing gum infections or failure of the restoration overall. The better you are at flossing, the longer lifespan you'll usually see out of your treatment investments.

 7 Best Dental Flosses

 1. BURST Dental Floss

Best Refillable Dental Floss

One of the reasons why I love BURST dental floss so much is that—not only does it come in fresh mint eucalyptus flavor—it has an auto-ship option where it sends you a refill every 12 weeks. Plus, the floss is dark, so you can actually see the plaque coming off of your teeth when you use it. Just pop the spool into the fancy-looking dispenser, and you're good to go. BURST dental floss is a great traditional flavored floss that is appropriate for all ages.

2. BURST Water Flosser

Best Handle Water Flosser

Water flossers are hands-down the next best choice to traditional dental floss. I love them because they reach deep inside periodontal pockets, where floss physically can't reach. The best thing about the BURST Water Flosser is that the tips rotate 360-degrees, and you can get up to 80 days on just one overnight charge. BURST will also send you a new replacement tip twice a year, and you can choose between a traditional tip, perio tip (for cleaning deeper gum pockets), or an ortho tip if you're currently in braces. The design is also water-resistant, so you can use your water flosser in the shower without worrying about making a mess.

3. Keeko Coconut Tooth Floss

Best Flavored Floss

Keeko's fluff-free floss, made from vegan coconut wax, is both gentle on gums and remarkably durable. Its flexibility enables it to fit easily between teeth, removing debris and buildup.

The floss's fibers are enriched with coconut oil, which acts as a natural antimicrobial agent to soothe gums and eliminate plaque. The delicious tropical coconut flavor will transport you to a relaxing island getaway with every use.

This floss comes in a handy travel case and is certified plastic neutral, making it a sustainable and eco-friendly choice for your oral hygiene routine.

4. Bite Dental Floss

Best Eco-Friendly Waxed Dental Floss

Waxed dental floss is great when you're trying to squeeze into tight spaces or like a better "slip" or "glide" whenever you're using it. One of my recommendations for the best dental floss of the waxed variety is Bite. Bite floss is all-natural, petroleum-free, and Teflon-free. It uses a natural canella wax and is unflavored. Bite also does not test on animals, plastic-free, 100% vegan, and comes in a refillable Refillable glass vial.

5. Oral B Super Floss

Best Dental Floss for Braces

Oral B Superfloss is hands-down amazing when it comes to cleaning around fixed appliances like braces or even underneath your dental bridge or All-on-4 implant system. The stiff end eliminates the need for floss threaders, and then it gets all nice and puffy in the middle to pull out any gunk that's stuck around brackets or wires. Weave it through your braces to clean where brushing doesn't reach. Have a tighter space? Tug on either end to collapse the expandable portion, making it easier to clean between teeth too. Super floss comes in pre-cut strands to take out any guesswork.

6. Piico Kids Floss Picks

Best Dental Floss For Kids

Kids typically lack the dexterity they need to properly use traditional flossing string around their teeth. Plus, there's the fact that a lot of kids have naturally wider spaces between teeth, making them a little easier to clean. Until your child is able to tie their shoes on their own, having them use floss picks is a great idea. Picco floss picks are easy to hold, so they can clean up and down between most of their teeth on their own (with a little help from you.) You can even put them in their lunchbox or keep them in the car to make their flossing routine harder to skip out on.

7. Risewell

Best Natural Dental For Floss

Looking for an all-natural, fluoride-free, coconut oil-infused, Teflon-free dental floss? Risewell is a natural dental products brand offering one of the best dental floss lines for people who like to go as natural as possible. It's also a hydroxyapatite-infused dental floss, which physically helps remineralize weak areas between your teeth that might have started to demineralize (the first stage of cavity development.) Risewell doesn't contain any fluoride. Since hydroxyapatite crystals also work to reduce cavities and enamel decalcification, using Risewell floss still protects your teeth even when you're trying to purposely avoid fluoride products.

Tips On How To Floss Properly

The better you use your floss, the more effective it is. Simply snapping it straight up and down between teeth won't do the trick. The best dental floss is one that you:

•  Use every day
•  Wrap in a tight "C" shape around the side of the tooth
•  Rub up and down 4-5 times against the side of the tooth
•  Allow to slip just below the gumlines to disrupt plaque in those areas
•  Lift up and over your gum "papilla" (that pointed gum tissue between your teeth)
•  Move over and repeat on the adjacent tooth
•  Use around every tooth in your mouth, regardless of whether it's physically touching another tooth or not

Be sure to use a floss threader or water flosser in areas you can't reach, like underneath fixed bridges or down inside periodontal pockets.

Continue flossing even if your gums bleed because it's the only way to target gingivitis and gum disease at its source. Normally, daily flossing will help reverse gingivitis with minor bleeding within 10-14 days.

Tips On How To Properly Water Floss

Water flossing works great for hard-to-reach spaces, inside periodontal pockets, and around fixed bridges or implant systems. Although it might tickle at first, you'll get used to it with a little practice.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Choose the right type of tip for what you need (traditional, perio, or ortho options)
2. Select your preferred water temperature
3. Adjust the water pressure (this can take some practice to find what works for you; consider starting with light pressure and working your way up)
4. Slightly angle the stream of water into the gums, slowly tracing along the edges of your gums
5. Pause between teeth, aiming the stream of water between them, moving up and down
6. Repeat until you've cleaned both the inside and outside surfaces of all teeth, at least once a day

Using a water flosser can take a little practice and getting used to. For a less-mess approach, make sure you're leading over the sink with your mouth open, looking down so that the water drips straight out of your mouth (instead of down your chin.) Or use one that’s shower safe if you're worried about the spray getting everywhere.

Related: Best Water Flossers

 Talk With Your Dentist

If you're confused about choosing the best dental floss or have problems with your current style, always talk to your dentist or dental hygienist. They may know of a brand that works better for your circumstances, such as tight teeth or areas where the floss is always shredding. And chances are, they'll even have some samples in their office that you can take home and try. Your dental team might even have a professional ordering platform where you can get discounts on specific types of products, be it floss, bleaching strips, or water flossers and electric toothbrushes. They know what works and what's a waste of time, so just ask!

 Finding The Best floss

The best flossing products is whichever one works for you and that you'll use every day. Maybe it's a special thick floss to use around braces or a water flosser that reaches between your very back teeth. Bottom line, you just need to be using it every day and make sure it fits the spaces between your teeth. Since floss comes in all shapes, sizes, and flavors, it helps to know what each type of dental floss is designed for. Using one that's made for teeth like yours will help your oral hygiene routine be more effective in the long haul.