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[img_assist|nid=25|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=62|height=100]Your mother told you to floss. Your dentist tells you to floss. The American Dental Association says everyone should floss once a day. And you say "whatever".

But did you know this:

• Don't pull the floss side to side. You're supposed to be scraping gunk off the side of your tooth--from below the gumline to the top.
• They say "once a day" because it takes about 24 hours for the gunk to build up, and for your gums to be ready for another session. (So, if you miss a day, it'll take longer to get back to clean, and you can't rush it)
• Your gums will bleed after flossing for up to a week if you haven't flossed in a while.
• If you don't floss you'll never get rid of the food that makes it under your gums, until it's broken down and done its damage. Nothing else can do the job that flossing does.

I didn't really give it much thought. I hated to floss, but then I had a big scare with my teeth, and I started to look around for info. Everyone tells you how much floss to use, how to wrap it around your fingers, but then they assume you know how to use it.

It's like teaching somebody gun safety, handing out a rifle, and watching the poor slob jerk the trigger and miss every target. "Squeeze, don't pull." So simple, yet everyone must be told it.

So it was with me. "Scrape, don't pull." "Up and down, not side to side." That's the info that lit up the lightbulb for me. Now I plan on having these teeth for a good long time.