What is the difference between a water flosser and a Waterpik

Everybody loves and wants a flattering, beautiful, and healthy smile. But you have to take care of your teeth and gums to get that sparkling white healthy smile. Bad oral maintenance can cause gum diseases, cavities, tooth loss, and many other oral problems including bad breath. Bad oral health can even lead to poor heart health and other severe problems. Brushing your teeth two times a day is a good start to your daily care routine, but your dentist must have told you that brushing your teeth is not enough as a brush can’t remove some food particles, cavities, and plaque from between teeth. So they recommend flossing or Waterpik for better cleaning. In this very article, we have thrown lights on the Difference between Water Flosser and a Waterpik. The detailed function, advantages, and disadvantages can help you in choosing the best method for you.

Water Flossers

Flossing is an old technique used for cleaning your teeth with a flosser. It is used for cleaning in between the teeth for residue food, plaques, and cavities. It is a very important habit for oral hygiene and health. Almost everyone brushes their teeth two times a day, but only a few of them floss their teeth regularly.

You should always floss your teeth at least once a day to keep the bacterias away and your gum health good. It is not only about smart flossing your teeth, you also need to do it properly with the proper technique. You should also give importance to the timing of flossing to get healthy and plaque-free gum. Generally, it is recommended to first floss the teeth and then brush so that the plaque and food stuck between your teeth gets freed and brushing throws it out of your mouth. There are several methods of flossing such as Dental Floss, Super Floss, and Standard Floss. Each has a different use and is suitable for one’s usage and teeth condition. Let’s look into some of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Water flossing.

How should you do it?

Flossing is comparatively an easy process, you can simply ask your dentist about it. We have mentioned some of the easy tricks and techniques for flossing so that you can take care of your gum health. 

There are the steps you should follow while flossing:

• You need to take a floss of around 18 inches and twirl it around your middle finger of each hand.
• Then you have to Pinch the floss with your thumb and index finger for better grip.
• Now, you have to glide the floss in between your teeth and gently move it up and down against your teeth. You need to do this carefully because if you touch your gum roughly then it may scratch your gum.
• When the floss reaches your gum, bend the floss towards the teeth base to form a C. It helps the floss to make through the space between your gum and teeth.
• Repeat the above steps for all the teeth with a new clean area of the floss.

Advantages of Water Flossing:

There are many advantages of Flossing, and it is an effective process too. It simply removes all residue food and plaques from between your teeth that a normal toothbrush cannot remove. It removes bacterias and helps in avoiding periodontal diseases that can damage your gum health. It also helps in removing the sticky layer of Plaque before it turns into tartar. The main advantage of traditional flossing is the control, we can clean our teeth and gum thoroughly by manual flossing. We can use up and down motion between each tooth for better cleaning.

Disadvantages of Water Flossing:

There are certain disadvantages of regular flossing that make it backward and the main is that some areas cannot be accessed only with the help of Floss. You may also face some problems with the teeth that are so close to each other, forceful glides can cause gum bleeding. 

Waterpik

A Waterpik is generally a device that sprays water on your teeth and gum to clean out the residue of food particles and plaques to prevent bacterias from forming and causing cavities. It is also called an oral pulsating irrigator. It is generally considered a replacement for brushing and flossing. If you are too lazy to brush your teeth and then floss, then you can buy a Waterpik device and simply clean your teeth with water jet spray. It is not as effective as the traditional flossing technique but it does the work. It doesn’t help much in removing the sticky layer of plaque from your teeth but removes the bacteria from the lower linings of the gum. Your dentist must have preferred you to use the flossing technique for better health gum, but Waterpik is also a pretty good alternative for Regular flossing. It is less time-consuming, provides cleaning in areas which regular floss cannot reach. There are various models and types of Waterpik available in the market, so you can do your research and get the best one for you.

How should you use it?

You should know that a Waterpik doesn’t replace your toothbrush or regular flossing technique. You still need to brush your teeth 2 times a day and then you can use Waterpik for more thorough cleaning. 

First of all, the reservoir of the Waterpik is filled with lukewarm water and then the tip of the Waterpik is put in the mouth. 

Then switch it on and start cleaning. You should hold the handle at 90 degrees so that the water jet cleans between the teeth. Move the Waterpik according to your need and clean the back of the teeth including the gum lining. 

Always take out the extra water (if any) from the reservoir to avoid bacteria from growing.

Advantages of Waterpik:

A Waterpik can be advantageous in many ways and the most useful part is that you can easily clean the hard-to-reach spots in your mouth. It can clean between the tightly spaced teeth, inner gum, cavities and keep your mouth fresh and odor-free. It is extremely easy to use and takes no time to clean your teeth, you just need to know the perfect settings of water temperature and power setting for you. You can easily clean the back part of your teeth and remove plaque.

Disadvantages of Waterpik:

The Waterpiks are not as effective as a flosser. It cannot remove your plaques completely from the surface whereas flossers loosen them and clean them out. A Waterpik can effectively wash out the residue particles and plaque from the surface. The Waterpiks are a bit costly, so they can be harmful to your pocket.

Conclusion

There is no such perfect oral healthcare routine. Your perfect oral care routine can be the one to which you stick to. Some people like a fresh and clean mouth so they prefer a Waterpik, but some people still like to control the flossing movement and clean their teeth according to their wish so they use the traditional flossing. Whereas, research says that there is very little difference in plaque cleaning capacity of both flossing and Waterpik. Both of them are good techniques for cleaning your teeth, but it depends on the user. So in this article, we have thrown lights on the difference between a Water Flosser and a Waterpik. It will help you choose the best option for you and your gum health

Feature Image Source: Crawford Leishman Dental

Read More: