How to use Waterpik: dentists recommendation

Application of the Tip inside the mouth

The user manual recommends to use the tip in between your teeth coming horizontally between each set of teeth.

We would like to recommend that we point down slightly at about the 20 degree angle on the lower teeth(and correspondingly up slightly on the upper teeth. So we are pointing up to the gums or down into the gums, depending on the arch you are on.

As we are Waterpiking we would like to see an 8 to 10 seconds time frame on the in-betweens in the back area. As you progress slowly from contact to contact you floss 8-10 seconds in the back.

And as you transition towards the front we go into 4 to 6 seconds around the front teeth.

Go all the way around the arch and then also approach from the inside surfaces. It’s very important to come from both outside and inside.

How to control the water

The instruction guide in the unit also recommends leaving your lips slightly opened while you are Wateterpiking and letting the water fall into the sink. What we find is that is where you get incredibly messy. Everything gets wet: the countertop, you, etc.

So what we recommend doing is keeping your lips pressed around the tip. And as you are moving it around the mouth the water is building up in the mouth, simply just move the tip off to the side, open your mouth quickly, spit out the water, and close your lips again, press them around the tip and continue flossing until the water reservoir is completed.

We recommend patients to use 2 reservoirs. One on the lower arch and then refilling it again for the upper arch. We find that’s where we get the most effectiveness.

So let’s show how to use it in action. We recommend starting with a lower pressure and day by day increasing within the first two weeks just increasing all the way up to 10. And that’s where we’d like to keep most people water flossing. It’s in the 10th range. It’s more pressure, more cleansability.

Filling the water. You take the reservoir off, you fill it with either tap water, you can use distilled water, whatever you’d like, you can mix a warm water and salt solution.

Pick up the handle, put it inside the mouth, press your lips and turn it on.

And then when you are done with your lower arch, refill the reservoir and repeat for the upper arch.

Conclusion

Enjoy the usefulness of Waterpik. It makes the mouth feel great. People come to dentists after using it for 6 months and literally say: “I love my Waterpik”. It’s an easy thing to use compared to trying to use floss. So this Waterpik usage can eliminate the use of floss between the teeth. Thank you very much!

Sources

• Original dentist recommendation video