Customer Reviews

Reach Gentle Gum Care, Mint Woven Floss, Fluoride 50 yards

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As any dental health professional will attest to, flossing one's teeth is just as important as brushing, and perhaps more so, for the bacteria that causes gum disease (and to a certain extent cavities) almost always starts between the teeth. Daily flossing breaks up the film of harmful bacteria and allows it to be removed. Therefore, as a dentist, I am always stressing the importance of daily flosing to my patients. My advice is this:

1. Choose a floss that is comfortable to you and is the right thickness for your teeth. Some people prefer floss holders rather than wrapping the floss around the fingers, while others prefer thin flavored floss to waxed thick floss. There are so many options - choose the right one for you.

2. Waxed floss is "waxed" to allow easier passage between the teeth. Waxed floss is no more effective than unwaxed at removing the bacterial film build-up. The important thing is to floss!

3. Floss once daily, preferably before brushing. Flossing breaks up the film of bacteria between the teeth in areas a toothbrush cannot reach. It is important to then brush the teeth and rinse between the teeth to remove the film of bacteria that the flossing has dislodged. Without brushing or rinsing after flossing, the bacteria can reattach to the teeth.

4. Try to tie in flossing with another habit, such as watching the 10 PM news. I know it sounds strange, but incorporating flossing into another habit leads one into developing a new habit. Some complain that they don't have time to floss; well, if flossing is tied into another habit, such as watching TV, both can easily be done concurrently.

5. There are many gimmicks the manufacturers use to sell their particular brand of floss. Some flavor the floss, some incorporate fluoride into the strands of floss, and some make their floss more slippery for folks with tight contacts. Whatever the case, the most important point is to choose a floss variety you will use regularly. It is the mechanical act of removing the bacterial flim that is the important part, not the flavoring or chemical additions to the floss.

6. If you want to keep your teeth for a life-time, develop the flossing habit. As one wise sage said: "If you ignore your teeth, they will eventually go away".

I recommend this product because it is effective and is relatively easy to use. I have found that it tends to shred more than regular floss, and this bothers me a bit so I do not use it regularly. I like the mint flavor and the fluoride cannot hurt either. All in all, it is a good product.

Jim "Konedog" Koenig, DDS

I have relatively tight teeth (esp. the back molars) and most normal floss would shred back there. About 6 years ago, my dentist recommended that I switch over to Glide floss, which at the time was a god-send. Glide made flossing rather quick work to remove food particles between my teeth without shredding (it's strongest advantage). After some years of use with Glide, I felt that it didn't leave my mouth as clean as the traditional floss (which has some "roughness" to it and would polish teeth as well as removing large food particles, but with very low shred resistance).

By chance, I happened to try out some Reach Flouride Woven Floss, and this product is a very good compromise between cleaning/polishing in-between teeth (normal floss) and shred-resistance (Glide floss). The Reach Flouride WOVEN floss (note the term "WOVEN" as the differentiator from their normal line) looks like an unraveled piece of willowy cotton when unstressed, however, when pulled taut it assumes a very traditional thin thread-like normal floss appearance. It works very well in-between my tight teeth (just about as good as normal "non-woven" floss), leaves them feeling minty clean (along w/ flouride protection), and has about 80% of the shred-resistance of Glide floss. Given the very excellent cleaning properties and relatively good shred-resistance, this Reach Flouride WOVEN floss has won me over.

I should also note that as of this time, there is also a Reach Mint WOVEN floss as well. I haven't tried it yet, but as the Reach Flouride WOVEN floss is rather minty already and has added flouride content, I'll be sticking with this excellent current product.