To floss or Not to floss

Let's just say that I may be a dentist's dream client, on the money making aspect. Why? Well, I have a bad habit of not flossing which lead to majority of the cavities that I have had.  First, my teeth are extremely close. They are so close that I never even knew that I was missing two of my front teeth. Had they come in, there would have been no room and I guess they would have housed themselves sideways.  Second, I swear I flossed one time and it was so difficult getting the floss out that I tugged so hard I chipped my tooth.  I'm just not a fan of flossing.

Well, I found a water flosser and I was pumped. I just knew that this was going to get me in the game and make flossing a little easier for me.  Through amazon I ordered the Gurin Professional Rechargeable Oral Irrigator Water Flosser with High Capacity Water Tank at a heavy discount.  I received the item a couple days later and immediately had to try it out.  The flosser was packaged with two replaceable nozzles and the water reservoir is detachable.

First attempt... unsuccessful. That was my fault because the instructions clearly stated to charge it for at least 8 hours.  So, I connected that good girl to the charger and plugged her in for the night. The next morning, I decided to give it another try. FAIL! The flosser has 3 modes (soft, normal, pulse) and because I have really sensitive teeth, I chose soft.

Imagine standing at the bathroom vanity cheesing in the mirror until you turn on the water flosser and water ricochets from your mouth to the mirror. Terrible!!! I did't have time to play with it so I packed it back up until I could try again.  I tried again, using pulse and received the same scene.  I decided to contact the company to tell them that the device must be defective and they kindly responded and informed me that the item is meant to be utilized with your mouth close.  My immediate response was who flosses with their mouth closed.  Now, I know I am not a flossing expert or anything, but that seemed wild.  Despite my reservations, I decided to give closed mouth flossing a chance.

This method did eliminate the ricochetting effect, however as I had already questioned... How can you successfully floss with your mouth closed?? I didn't feel like I achieved as good a flossing as I would have with the wax floss.  Also, even though I used the soft mode it was too hard for me.  Now, let me say this, I get the impression that based on my usage and the name of the product that it is not to replace the traditional flossing, but to help in reaching hard to get to areas and getting in the crevices, but i just can't get with it.