CHANGE 11: FLOSS THE CHANGE: Take 2 minutes to floss every evening. WHY: It’s one of the most overlooked activities when it comes to being healthy and taking care of ourselves. We all brush our teeth (I hope) because otherwise our breath will smell bad and it’s embarrassing. But no one (except your dentist) knows if you flossed. !at’s the wrong attitude — your teeth will decay and eventually you’ll have very bad dental health, or you’ll have to pay for expensive (and painful) dental work. I only started flossing regularly in 2012, I’m embarrassed to say. But Ive found that flossing can fairly quickly improve your dental health. If you haven’t been flossing, it’s likely that you have some kind of gum infection, and so flossing will cause some unpleasant (but not really painful) bleeding ! at’s normal, and it will go away after a few days of flossing (at least in my experience). Your teeth will also start to feel cleaner, which is an amazing experience. And when you go to the dentist (if you arent regularly, you should, trust me), you’ll get a much better report, and have much less nasty dental work to be done. HOW: 1. Pick a trigger in the evening before bedtime. For a habit to be automatic, it needs a trigger— something that is already in your daily routine. What do you normally do before bed? (Note: if the evening absolutely doesnt work for you, because you’re too tired to create a new habit, do it in the morning when you brush your teeth.) 2. Have a visual reminder. The key is to do the new habit right after the trigger, but at first you might easily forget. So have the dental floss right next to your toothbrush, where you won’t forget it. You might also put up a note next to your bathroom mirror so you can’t possibly forget. 3. Just do a minute the first day. You don’t have to be thorough — you’re trying to form the habit, not give yourself a full-on cleaning. Don’t be overzealous. 4. Slowly expand each day, until you’re getting all your teeth. It’ll get easier, and less painful. Enjoy the feeling of clean teeth. 5. If you don’t already, consider a fluoride rinse after you floss and brush at night. The feeling of a clean mouth as you go to bed is one of the little secrets of life. Consider keeping this habit for the rest of the year as well. It’s a great one to have, and only takes a couple minutes each night.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 13:48:13 +0000
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