Over the years I've had the opportunity to clean thousands of teeth. I've encountered several patients that say they don't floss their back teeth because they simply have difficulty reaching "all the way back there!". It's true that flossing all your teeth thoroughly can be a difficult task to achieve, but not impossible!
When ever a patient tells me that they don't floss their back teeth, I invite them to try using a flossmate or any other floss holder made specifically for the back teeth. I personally recommend a flossmate because it's the one I've been using and recommending since I was in school, but any other brand with a similar design will work just fine.
What is a flossmate?
A flossmate is a modified floss holder that is able to adapt to your back teeth better. I've found that several patients who simply can't be convinced to floss, will actually attempt flossing their back teeth if they are given a flossmate or any other floss holder made specifically for the back teeth. Although it's possible to use a "regular" floss holder to floss the back teeth. The shape of a flossmate or anything similar will help reach and clean the back teeth more efficiently.
Now, to be completely honest. I find that most patients who use a flossmate do a okay to good job at flossing their back teeth, but not a perfect job. This is mainly because most of them don't adapt the floss to the tooth (by creating a "c-shape") properly, which is important in order to clean under the gumline. I still believe that using your fingers to floss can have better cleaning results, so work on your C-shape technique until you've master it!
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