But first, what’s a Waterpik®?…
One of the many tooth cleaning supplies we offer at our office is the Waterpik®. The Waterpik® is an awesome adjunct to your regular brushing and flossing oral hygiene routing. It is a “water flosser” that looks like an electric toothbrush, but shoots water out of its plastic tip to remove plaque build-up and food.
1. The Waterpik® can remove up to 40% more plaque than regular string floss. This is great news not only for all of the occasional flossers out there (guilty!), but it’s also great news for your gums! Less plaque means less inflammation, which means less bleeding and sore gums = happy teeth.
2. The Waterpik® is much more easy to maneuver around your mouth than having your fingers getting tangled with string floss. It looks just like an electric toothbrush—all you have to do is aim the plastic tip between your tooth and the gum-line, and guide it around your mouth as it does all the work for you!
3. For people with periodontal disease, the Waterpik® can clean in the pockets around your teeth more effectively.
a. Plaque gets stuck in the pockets, which means it’s hard for toothbrushes (even electric) and string floss to access and remove. Once plaque stays in those pockets for a while, it can cause bone loss, inflammation and bleeding, loose teeth and possible eventual tooth loss.
We can go on and on about our love for the Waterpik® (did we mention it cleans around implants and braces more effectively as well??), but try it out and see for yourself!
More information can be found at
https://www.waterpik.com/oral-health/clinical-research/
Works cited:
Waterpik® Water Flosser: Significantly More Effective than String Floss for Removing Plaque. Journal of Clinical Dentistry 2013;24(2):37-42.
Waterpik® Water Flossers: 51% More Effective than String Floss for Reducing Gingivitis
Comparison of Irrigation to Floss as an Adjunct to Toothbrushing: Effect on Bleeding, Gingivitis, and Supragingival Plaque. Barnes CM, Russell CM, Reinhardt RA, Payne JB, Lyle DM Journal of Clinical Dentistry, 2005; 16(3):71-77.