Anyone Familiar With Water Jet Flossing for Gums and Teeth?

Yes: a lot of the 1 stars complain about Philips failing after "n" months. Most say it was good 'til it broke. I wonder how many of the 5 star were written soon after the purchase and weren't updated when the thing failed.

Interesting that the advertisement specifically compares the WaterPik with yet another Philips part code HX8181 which I suspect was one on the first generation.

I am beginning to think I'll just stick with straight water jets and try to apply the mouthwash another way.

Hydrogen peroxide!? Won't that turn the hairs on my tongue white?

0 to 110 PSI! Wow: have you tried it on the patio?

This looks like the highest spec. superficially.

I need to decide if I want a cordless or if I can make room for one of these larger units.

Hydrogen peroxide 3% from the local pharmacy (chemist in London), along with baking soda is an effective dentifrice, and also good for eliminating infections at or below the gum line IMHO.

This combination helps to remove tea and coffee stains also. I think this is also fairly easy on tooth enamel.

Note: I am not a dentist, and I have not even been to a local Holiday Inn.

On the few occasions when I've had a painful localized gum infection I've held a wet (cool) teabag over the affected area for a while. This has never failed to help with the pain and has induced the infection to drain once or twice.

I could've put a down payment on a mansion with all the money I've spent on dentists and periodontists so I'm glad for an opportunity to share this expensive knowledge .

yuk!

press a finger firmly into the pain until it pops! then hp

I've used a Water Pic device for cleaning my teeth. Works great.

If you have an infection you should also use some Peroxyl mouthwash or other peroxide-based mouthwash.

Yes. One way or another I think I should drop the idea of using the flosser to apply the mouthwash. I'll look to see which peroxide based ones are available over here.

I've recently had a bit of expensive dental work done, (£3K+) and my dentist did a really good job and spent several hours preparing and checking afterwards. She advised me to start 'flossing' or all her hard work would quickly deteriorate. After trying different types of floss, tooth picks and even small tywraps I was getting more and more frustrated so decided to try a water-pick tool. As you say all the small portable picks have major reliability problems so I bought this mains powered tool on Amazon:-

Waterpik WP-660E2 Ultra Professional Water Flosser (2-Pin EU Bathroom Plug)

This model plugs into a standard 2 pin bathroom shaver socket. Having used it for several weeks I'm completely hooked and even the wife, who struggles with any electrical gadget seems to get on with it, (we are both mid 70s). You can see how effective it is by using a normal electric tooth brush followed by the Waterpik and see how much food debris gets washed out of the hollows in the gums between the teeth which no brush can get at.

Final advice, start on a low pressure setting and use warm water or it can hurt your gums at first.

Thanks: I think you've pretty well summed up where I've got to.

I've resorted to tie wraps in the past, and also to tying big knots in standard floss to pull through the gaps at the bottom of the teeth.

This ''Floss Pick" (also) works great. My GF works at a dental office and recommends these. The dental hygienist in the office gave me one of these 'free' after my last cleaning a couple months ago. It's easier to use than the Water Pic, though the Water Pic is good when you have a special need for it.

They're inexpensive ($2 or $3 US), and the floss picks have a pleasant minty taste. The floss is held extremely tightly between the plastic tines, so you can really get right down to your gums and scrape the sides of your teeth much better than by hand-flossing. Each floss clip is good for at least a week.

One Person's Experience with Advanced Personal Oral Hygiene Techniques

I had a resorption problem with a back molar ostensibly triggered by a previously removed wisdom tooth. The dental surgeon did a "crown lengthening" procedure to try to halt the resorption. He removed some extra gum and worked on the root which my body was dissolving(resorption.) The net result was a hole under a big molar which he said I would have to keep spectacularly clean or I would lose the molar in six months to a year. Another dentist also looked at the situation and said there was nearly no way it could ever last five years. I went fifteen years before the resorption resumed and in twenty it came out like a baby tooth with the roots nearly eroded away but with no infection, no decay, and no pain. I pulled it out myself.

I had historically had a plaque buildup on my bottom front teeth which I had halted using a proxabrush(little cylindrical brush) with baking soda dampened with 3% (normal grocery store strength and cheap) hydrogen peroxide. I have ceased using commercial toothpastes. My earlier dentist had recommended the proxabrush but was amazed that it worked so much better than the brushing and flossing I had been using before. He had watched my routine earlier and was quite pleased with the brushing/flossing technique which had been ineffective at halting the plaque with commercial toothpaste. One important change was that I reduced the time between eating anything and brushing. I was able to use the proxabrush like a toothpick(just dry, no paste) anytime I ate anything and immediately after finishing eating(even a snack or fruit juice.) I used to store a toothbrush in a case at work so this was less disruptive than my previous practice had been.

So, the key points are proxabrush(even without paste) immediately after consuming anything and use sodium bicarbonate(baking soda, do not use baking powder which contains some acid) wet with hydrogen peroxide when you have ready access to a sink to spit it out. Use the largest, small brush which fits easily between your teeth. Even the smallest proxabrush was tight for my teeth since they had been squeezed together by four(yes, all four) impact wisdom teeth. I use proxabrushes with actual bristles held by a fine wire, not the molded plastic bristle ones. The ones whose bristles are the same material as the handle are just not as good . My favorite proxabrush is the green handled "angler" which was nearly essential for my resorbing molar but the cheaper straight ones in packs of ten or twenty work fine for my other teeth since I can run them all the way through the gap between each pair of teeth. I was able to run the angler underneath of my molar from the rear between the roots amazing every dentist looking at the health of the gum under that tooth.

A little bit on technique may be in order. I run the proxabrush all the way through the slight widening of the gap at the bottom of the teeth near the gum. I go straight in and straight out. If one twirls a proxabrush they risk driving junk under the gum which is a disaster. No one should force it or they might drive the wire under the gum or puncture the gum which is horrible. Getting the angle to match the direction of the gap takes practice and agility but I realized that I really had to do it right. I had to avoid looking in a mirror and go totally by feel or I would struggle. Some people are just not capable of doing this correctly and they should give up as opposed to damaging their gums. I am not a dental professional and this is not advice but only an anecdotal account of what one person(I am somewhat fanatical about oral hygiene) did with great success.

I had tried waterpik type devices but they have portability issues. With these devices one depends on the force of the water jet to do the cleaning. Rinsing a car with a hose is very similar. Some dirt just does not come off without some mechanical(a brush, a chamois, or a sponge) encouragement. Waterpiks are pleasant and save labor but there is a limit to their effectiveness which I do not like. You should make sure that you have professional guidance with respect to any infection which could easily be beyond any superficial cleaning. Oral infections are also implicated I am told in more serious health problems such as heart disease. Your personal oral hygiene scope certainly has its limits. Professionals also have the great advantage of technology in the form of lights and lenses(and x-rays) to see stuff you just will not be able to see in a mirror.

thewildΩtter ^⌉ ! <- thewildotter using an "angler" proxabrush

..."There is no conclusive research showing that tooth decay causes heart disease, but studies indicate that severe gum disease may be associated with several other health conditions including heart disease, diabetes or stroke. However, saying that two conditions are associated is not the same as saying that one causes the other."...

https://www.sharecare.com/health/heart-disease-oral-health/what-link-tooth-decay-heart

The only thing works on preventing teeth infections is strongly flushing to the teeth gum.

I've been using this one for several years: sterline flosser It is way better than dental floss. Gets out incredible amount of debris, massages the gums, cleans the tongue, and is fast and easy. I just use tap water. If you have sensitive teeth you might want to use warm water. And adding some mouthwash sounds like a great idea.

purchase a water pic that has good reviews and cut your mouthwash in half with warm water.

My wife and I have each had a Phillips HX8140 (one of the green ones) for a few years, and both continue to work just fine. I only use mine occasionally, when something gets stuck in a place that the toothbrush and floss don't easily reach. If it has been allowed to dry out, it takes a few squirts after refilling before it works correctly. When it is working correctly, I believe the stream is pretty much fully water; any entrained air will significantly reduce the force.

The Dental Assistant said to get, " The Pink One " .

Google : pink sonicare.

don't need a part code breakdown.

Shop Assistant's never worry about codes, they just tell you to get the pink,red,blue,orange, yellow or black one.

It's the Technical types that need codes and such.

" with a good reputation " what, with a good reputation for taking stuff back ? , Where is that store, because I got a whole list of stuff I want to take back, again and again and again,,,,

Hhhmmm. Unfortunately that's a toothbrush not a flosser, so, I think I'll try to stick with figuring out what the various part codes mean.

This might turn out to be embarrassing, but, at least it won't cost too much: I have ordered one of these:-

£19.95 is about $27

If it works at all it should at least give me the experience to know what to look for if I decide to buy another brand.