Want to keep flossing

[Wilk]

Hi there everyone

Been a while since I've been logged on...
Got a specific question and wonder if anyone has any ideas on this one:
I've been able so far to floss on my own, using dental tape, but am reaching a point now where its becoming a little more difficult to hold onto the two ends of the floss and move it back and forth between teeth. Tried dental picks and those lttle floss holders but its hard to hold onto those things. Anyone got any ideas?
I know it may sound a little wierd, but want to maintain my independence as long as possible in doing my ADLs, and I wonder what other people have come up with short of bringing in somone else to do it for me.

Thanks in advance

Wilk

 

[olly]

I was going to recommend the sticks that have a inch of floss on but you mentioned there hard to use as well.
I too find flossing tricky.
Do you use a manual or electric tooth brush?
You can get the electric tooth brushes that have a small round head,i use one and find you can angle it so that you can clean between teeth.
Also certain types of mouth wash can help,i use the dentyl active that you shake up first...its designed to get everything out from between teeth.
Not sure what else to recommend,hope this helped.

 

[laurel]

How about blasting away with a water pik? You don't need much fine hand coordination to use them and they do a very good cleaning job. Good luck finding something that works for you Wilk.

Laurel

 

[frankb]

I like the waterpik idea. - - - have used only water in my waterpik previously. Anyone experiment with adding anything to water to improve dental hygene?

 

[laurel]

Mouth wash in the water pik helps your breath and you feel fresher.

Laurel

 

[penny1]

R E A C H make a flosser that has a tooth brush handle with rubber grips that holds replaceable heads. The head is at 90 angle from handle.
You or a caregiver can hold the handle outside of the mouth while flossing. I have included this hint when speaking at ALS support group meetings, very good feed back! from both PALS and CALS Penny

 

[pearshoot]

water pick works good for me, not as good as flossing, haven't tried mouthwash in pick but will

 

[momap53]

Penny's recommendation is good. Perhaps try building up the handle to make a fatter grip.
A wrist brace purchased from the health section of the big super store helped give me some added support to hold onto the flosser. Propping my arm up helped as well.
Advice from an OT might be helpful if you have access to one.

 

[Wilk]

Hey everyone

Thanks to everybody for the advice on flossing. Very helpful. This water pik idea may work as I can still operate my electric toothbrush, but the REACH toothbrush pik seems worth a try too, especially if I can make the grip larger for easier handling.