The Essential Guide to Interdental Cleaning: Protecting Your Gums and Smile

The Essential Guide to Interdental Cleaning: Protecting Your Gums and Smile

Post by : admin | 15 August 2025

Interdental cleaning is one of the most important, and most overlooked steps in maintaining excellent oral health. While brushing twice daily removes plaque from the visible surfaces of your teeth, it cannot reach the tight spaces between teeth or just below the gumline. Skipping interdental cleaning leaves more than one-third of your tooth surfaces untreated, increasing your risk of gum disease, tooth decay, and bad breath.

A report published by PubMed in the National Library of Medicine shows that over 25 million UK adults already live with some form of gum disease, a figure expected to rise to nearly 28 million by 2050 as the population ages. For those with early signs of gum problems, regular interdental cleaning combined with professional care from a periodontist in Surbiton can make all the difference in protecting your gums and overall oral health.

Methods of Interdental Cleaning

1. Interdental Brushes

Small, specialised brushes designed to clean between your teeth. They are particularly helpful for people with wider gaps, braces, or implants.

How to use: Hold the brush gently and insert it into the gap between your teeth without forcing it. If it bends or feels too tight, switch to a smaller size.

Why it matters: These brushes remove plaque that can cause gum irritation, gingivitis, and may eventually require periodontal treatment in Surbiton.

2. Dental Floss

Floss remains one of the most effective tools for cleaning tight spaces between teeth.

How to use: Break off about 18 inches of floss, wrap it around your fingers, and guide it carefully between each tooth in a C-shape to clean below the gumline.

Tip: Waxed floss works better for tight gaps, while dental tape can be useful for wider spaces.

3. Water Flossers

Water flossers (oral irrigators) use a gentle stream of water to remove plaque and bacteria from between teeth and along the gumline.

Best for: Patients with braces, implants, bridges, or sensitive gums.

Benefit: Water flossers can reduce inflammation and help manage conditions like gingivitis, lowering the risk of needing gum infection treatment later.

4. Dental Picks and Sticks

Convenient for on-the-go cleaning, these tools help remove trapped food particles when brushing or flossing isn’t possible.

Important: Use gently to avoid harming your gums. They should complement, not replace, daily flossing or brushing.

Why Interdental Cleaning Is Essential

• Preventing Gum Disease: Removing plaque between teeth reduces the risk of gingivitis and periodontitis. If gum disease progresses, it may require advanced periodontal therapy in Surbiton from a gum specialist.
• Protecting Against Cavities: Food particles stuck between teeth are a common cause of hidden cavities.
• Freshening Breath: Bacteria between teeth contribute to bad breath. Regular cleaning keeps your smile fresh.
• Supporting Overall Health: Research links gum disease to systemic issues such as diabetes and heart disease.

Getting Interdental Cleaning Right: Tools and Common Mistakes

Even patients who brush twice a day can still develop gum disease if they aren’t cleaning effectively between their teeth. At Surbiton Dental, we regularly see people who floss or use interdental brushes, but small mistakes in technique mean harmful plaque and bacteria remain behind. Knowing the right tool for your mouth, and how to use it properly is key to keeping gums healthy.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using the wrong size of interdental brush: If the brush is too small, it won’t remove plaque effectively; if it’s too big, it can cause discomfort or gum trauma. Many patients try one size and assume it should work for all their teeth, but in reality, you may need several sizes to cover different gaps.
• Snapping floss into place: Pulling floss down aggressively between teeth can cut or bruise your gums. This can put people off flossing altogether.
• Relying on mouthwash alone: While mouthwash can freshen breath, it doesn’t physically remove plaque. Without brushing or interdental cleaning, bacteria can still thrive between your teeth.
• Only cleaning the front teeth: Many people floss or brush the visible areas but neglect the back molars, where plaque build-up is often worse.
• Stopping too soon: If gums bleed at first, people assume they are doing harm and stop. In fact, bleeding is often a sign of existing gum inflammation, and regular cleaning helps reverse it.

How to Get It Right

• Get sized professionally: Ask your dentist or hygienist to measure your interdental spaces and recommend the right interdental brush size for each area of your mouth. Using the correct tool is just as important as using it regularly.
• Master the C-shape with floss: Wrap the floss in a “C” around each tooth, sliding gently below the gumline. This ensures you remove plaque from the sides of the tooth, not just between the contact points.
• Choose tools suited to your needs: Patients with braces, dental implants, or bridges may find water flossers or special orthodontic brushes more effective than standard floss.
• Consistency is key: Interdental cleaning only takes a couple of minutes each day, but the benefits compound over time. Treat it as a non-negotiable part of your daily routine, just like brushing.
• Use proper technique, not force: Whether brushing or flossing, gentle, controlled movements are more effective and safer than rushing.

Why Technique Matters

Interdental cleaning isn’t just a “bonus” step; it can be the difference between maintaining healthy gums and developing gingivitis or periodontitis. When plaque isn’t properly removed from tight spaces, it hardens into tartar, which no toothbrush or mouthwash can shift. This is when gum irritation, bleeding, and eventual recession begin.

By learning the right technique and using the correct tools, you can:

• Prevent bleeding gums and bad breath
• Reduce your risk of cavities between teeth.
• Protect against gum disease and bone loss.
• Support other treatments such as whitening, bonding, or orthodontics.

At Surbiton Dental, our hygienists and periodontists can demonstrate the best interdental cleaning method for your smile and recommend tools that match your unique needs, giving you confidence that you’re doing it right.

When to See a Periodontist in Surbiton

While interdental cleaning at home is vital, sometimes professional help is needed. If you’re experiencing bleeding gums, gum recession, or persistent inflammation, visiting a gum disease specialist in Surbiton is essential. Treatments available at a gum disease clinic in Surbiton may include:

• Deep Cleaning (Scaling & Root Planing) to remove tartar below the gumline.
• Receding Gum Treatment to restore gum tissue and protect teeth.
• Ongoing Periodontal Therapy to manage gum health long-term.

These treatments go beyond what at-home cleaning can achieve, ensuring your gums stay strong and healthy.

Final Thoughts on Interdental Cleaning

Adding interdental cleaning to your daily oral hygiene routine helps prevent gum disease, cavities, and bad breath, giving you a brighter, healthier smile. But if gum problems persist, don’t ignore them. A periodontist in Surbiton can provide the expert care you need, from gum infection treatment to advanced periodontal therapy.
Contact us today at Surbiton Dental to book an appointment with our dentist or periodontist. Protecting your gums now means protecting your smile for the future.