I do my best to take care of myself, including faithfully brushing my teeth twice-daily, but I have to be candid that I hate flossing. The string, the bleeding, the hassle, it’s something I really don’t like, so flying in the face of my dentist’s recommendation, I floss once in a blue moon. If that often. I even got those cool little floss pick things but I don’t use those either, they just stare at me and make me feel guilty every time I open the drawer in my bathroom.
My kids are doing okay with their own dental hygiene but could be better, I know. I keep encouraging them to clean their teeth in the mornings, but they’re in a rut – at my house at least – of cleaning teeth before bed. How they can have that yechy morning taste all day, I dunno, but, alas, I’m not yet Superdad so that’s a battle I haven’t won.
So when I was asked if I’d like to try a Waterpik Waterflosser “Ultra” for free, I said “sure!” hoping that their claims were accurate. Claims? On the box it proudly proclaims “Easier and more effective than string floss”. Sweet.
I pulled it out of the box this morning, filled up the water reservior, and with only a little bit of trepidation flipped the switch and used the Waterpik on the base of my teeth, front and back. And ya know what? It was pretty darn easy to work with and in about two minutes I did something I haven’t done for days (alright, months): I flossed.
Now, having said that, I will say that not really thinking things through, I was surprised that I kept getting a mouthful of water as I went along. Why is that daft on my part? Because the Waterpik pushes water through the stem at high pressure to accomplish its task: so where else is the water going to go than accumulate in your mouth? I didn’t know whether to swallow the water or spit it out so I swallowed it. Hope it’s not too gross.
I have to trust the manufacturer that it is better than using string floss, but even if it’s just 50% as effective, that’s 100% more than I’ve done for my teeth in a long time. So it’s good.
My real test will be for my kids to try the Waterflosser. Hopefully they’ll enjoy it – it’s rather a nice feeling and not painful at all – and if they use it, even just once a week, again, that’s more than I suspect they’re doing now with their dental hygiene.
Now if I could just get them to clean their teeth in the mornings too…
The Waterpik Water flosser WP-100 retails for $59.99 but has been replaced by newer units at Waterpick. Or if you really love the design and features of the WP-100 you can still buy it at Amazon.com. 🙂