Flossing is a critical part of keeping your teeth clean. A toothbrush will clean the smooth surfaces of your teeth very well, and will also reach into the crevices under your gumline.

	At the left the picture shows the area that a toothbrush cleans well. These smooth surfaces do not get cavities very often, because most people clean this part of their teeth pretty well and pretty regularly.
	However, the place where the teeth touch together, the interproximal zone, is a frequent place for tooth decay. You need dental floss to clean this area at all.   The interproximal area is also the prime spot for developing gum disease.

One of the things that can make flossing difficult is if the floss shreds. It will shred if you have rough dental work that involves the contact point, or if the teeth are too close together. For this reason, waxed floss has become popular. The wax helps it glide through the contact point more easily and also strengthens it to resist shredding.

Read about Supersmile whitening toothpaste.

Read Dr. Hall's blog posts about tooth decay and gum disease.