Cleaning interdental spaces: The best tips

Regular cleaning of the spaces between teeth is part of thorough oral hygiene. In this practical tip, we show you the various options for this type of dental care

Cleaning interdental spaces with dental floss

Flossing is the most frequently used tool when it comes to cleaning the spaces between teeth.

• Use fine dental floss to clean even narrow interdental spaces

• However, you should be particularly careful with the dental floss if your teeth are very close together. There is a high risk of damaging the sensitive gums

• Waxed dental floss not only removes food residue, but also plaque.

• Floss is best suited for the incisors and canines.

• If you are less practiced in handling it, it is easier to use small floss holders.

• By the way, interdental spaces should be cleaned as often as possible. So you can use dental floss as often as you like. The same applies to all other dental care aids

Small brushes and oral irrigator

In addition to dental floss, there are other good tools for carefully cleaning the spaces between teeth.

• Interdental brushes are very practical and easy to use

• These small brushes are better suited to cleaning the interdental spaces than dental floss, especially when teeth are further apart.

• There are various models of oral irrigators. If you only use water for cleaning, you can use it to rinse food debris out of the interdental spaces.

• There are also devices that use a mixture of water and air to build up more pressure and may also be able to remove plaque from the interdental spaces.

• Last but not least, there are also so-called dental sticks. These are thin wooden sticks that are not round but triangular in shape to clean the interdental spaces better.

• However, to avoid injury, you should only use these wooden sticks for larger interdental spaces.