<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" From the August 2013 issue Unless you&amp;#039;re exceedingly meticulous in your mouth care, chances are you&amp;#039;ve never even looked at an oral irrigator. The little hose used to clean between your teeth and around and under your gums probably seems like just another tool for the 60-plus crowd that you walk by in the drugstore \u2014 lost among the denture adhesive, sugar-free candies, and copies of Reader&amp;#039;s Digest. But don&amp;#039;t be fooled. (And maybe stop being so judgmental. Those candies are delicious.) While an irrigator might add a minute to your evening routine, it could cut 30 off your next visit to the dentist. Granted, not everyone needs one of these things. According to Dr. Matt Messina of the American Dental Association, if your current teeth-cleaning habits keep you and your dentist happy, there&amp;#039;s no reason to change them. But if your last few appointments left your dental bib looking as if you just finished a plate of barbecued ribs, you might consider it. That bleeding is often caused by periodontitis, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 50 percent of adults have. As you age, periodontitis can cause your gums to loosen their grip on your teeth, creating pockets that trap food and bacteria that inflame your gums. An oral irrigator addresses the problem directly. Cleaning your mouth is about disturbing plaque, Messina explains. You&amp;#039;ll never get rid of all of it, not even a dentist can, but if you stir up bacteria every 24 hours, you prevent it from banding together with friends and causing real damage. With an irrigator, you&amp;#039;re not only rinsing away anything that your brush or floss loosened up but also getting at that bacteria below the gum line. I started out with the easiest option, the Philips Sonicare AirFloss ($90). As it turns out, the AirFloss is not officially an oral irrigator. And it&amp;#039;s not that effective. It&amp;#039;s flossing for lazy people \u2014 a blast of air and water between your teeth. After a couple days, I longed for the clean feeling of floss. And the quiet: Each blast of the AirFloss arrives with a pneumatic gush and what sounds like the reloading of a gigantic spring. While it wasn&amp;#039;t for me, if you&amp;#039;re the kind of person who hates to floss, the AirFloss might be a good alternative. Especially if you don&amp;#039;t mind frequently cleaning your mirror. A big step up in terms of effectiveness, the Waterpik Complete Care ($100 for toothbrush and irrigator; waterpik.com) is a combination unit the size of a fat box of tissues that will take up most of your counter space. The base serves as a charging stand for the toothbrush and holds the water reservoir and hose. Just be ready when you turn it on: The water shoots out of the nozzle until you turn it off, and the pause button is really more of a slow-down button. You can select the water pressure from a scale of 1 to 10, but Messina recommends never going above 5 or 6. More than that and you can damage your gums or push bacteria deeper, where nothing can reach it. When you use the Waterpik, you have to keep your head over the sink and tilted to the side with your lips parted to allow the steady stream of drool a place to escape. It&amp;#039;s gross \u2014 and not something my wife would let me do while she was in the bathroom \u2014 but effective. The most convenient option is the Waterpik Showerpik ($70), an add-on for your showerhead that lets you take care of everything in the splash-proof privacy of your tub. Since the Showerpik is hooked up to your water line, you don&amp;#039;t need a reservoir. And since you&amp;#039;re in the shower, you don&amp;#039;t need to worry about where you&amp;#039;re drooling. Rodney Cutler is an Ironman triathlete and the owner of Cutler salons in New York City.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/style/advice/a23331/how-to-wash-your-teeth-0813/>