If you’re not flossing, you’re just straight-up skipping out on an essential part of oral and dental care. Thankfully, it’s as good a time as any to get your floss game going with easy-to-use floss picks.
Though floss picks might not be as essential as a good electric toothbrush, flossing is a key way to eliminate plaque and remove food between the teeth where toothbrushes can’t reach. Not only is that essential for breath and the general well-being of your mouth, but it’s also critical to prevent gingivitis, a gum disease that causes inflammation and irritation where the gum meets the teeth.
That’s why we rounded up a few of the best floss picks to properly maintain your teeth. We’ve got your traditional floss picks, a non-floss dental pick, a cool modern refillable floss pick, eco-friendly options and even a water flosser for the floss-averse.
So make some room on the counter next to your eco-friendly toothbrush and teeth whitening products because floss picks and products belong right there too.
1. DenTek Triple Clean Advanced Clean Floss Picks
BEST OVERALL
The DenTek Triple Clean Advanced Clean Floss Picks work well and offer a lot of bang for their buck. This 150-pack would last you six months if you floss every day and the flossers themselves are great too. First, they’re sturdy enough with strong enough floss to get into tight spots. But they also feature a tongue scraper and micro-textured pick. Between all three, you’ll be able to handle any food-in-teeth situation for that wonderful cleaner mouth feeling.
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2. Quip Refillable Floss Pick
MODERN FLOSS PICK
Quip has tried to redefine oral healthcare with its high-quality basic dental tools and subscription refill model. It’s not the way to go for everyone, but if you like the idea of having a modern floss pick and cheap, easy-to-use sustainable floss refills, check out the Quip Refillable Floss Pick.
The floss pick itself is ergonomic, functional and easy to use to comfortably pick those hard-to-reach or tight-gapped teeth. To swap the floss, you press the Q button to pop the pick open, close it across the mint floss inside the case and then rip up through the lower-right notch. Presto, a refillable floss pick. Though the term flosser may be more appropriate because this thing has no such pick to speak of.
At the same time, the case itself is quite snazzy, with a white plastic option or a selection of metal colors, as well as a cool black metal option.
Refills come automatically every three months for $10 and you can feel a little better knowing that one floss refill replaces 180 disposable plastic picks.
As of publication, you even get a free tube of toothpaste with your purchase.
3. Gum Soft-Picks Advanced Dental Picks
BEST NON-FLOSS DENTAL PICK
The Gum Soft-Picks Advanced Dental Picks are a non-floss alternative that can work just as well as traditional floss picks. Instead of a piece of floss that can fray and shred, these picks have soft, flexible synthetic rubber bristles to clean in between teeth, clear out food and gently remove plaque. Because you’re not working with a taut piece of string, these picks can be great for more sensitive gums too.
4. Oral-B Glide Floss Picks
HIGHLY RATED
Amazon reviewers love the Oral-B Glide Floss Picks, which boasts over 90% five-star reviews on over 2,400 reviews.
Oral-B uses a patented shred-resistant floss that promises to move smoothly between teeth, removing plaque along the way. But the really neat feature is the tension control pick design, which can help you comfortably floss below the gum line for a better clean.
Alas, these are fairly pricey for floss picks, but reviewers stand by them. One reviewer on Amazon said, “I love these picks because the floss does not unravel and get stuck between your teeth. Also, my teeth are very tight together and it is difficult to get other floss through them, [but] these glide […] right through my teeth with no problem.”
5. Plackers TwinLine Dental Floss Picks
BEST TWO LINE FLOSS PICKS
What’s better than one piece of floss? Why two pieces of floss, of course. The Plackers TwinLine Dental Floss Picks bring two pieces of floss between teeth for a much more even flossing experience. The minty fresh patented Super TufFloss won’t stretch, shred or break, and we also appreciate the protected pick. We’ve definitely been stabbed before rooting around for floss picks, so it’s nice that it folds out.
6. Happy Eco Plant-Based Floss Picks
ECO-FRIENDLY FLOSS PICKS
Reusable products and less waste is one way to act more sustainably but using biodegradable products works well, too. The Happy Eco Plant-Based Floss Picks are made entirely from corn starch and ship in recyclable packaging. They also floss well and pick well. However, the floss itself is made from nylon, which isn’t widely recycled or biodegradable. But no solution is perfect and these floss picks are still much better off for the environment than plastic ones.
7. Waterpik Aquarius Water Flosser
BEST WATER FLOSSER
It’s not a floss pick, but the Waterpik Aquarius Water Flosser makes for an excellent alternative to traditional floss and floss picks.
Water can more gently clean plaque and gums and this water flosser offers a few ways to do that. There are 10 pressure settings from 10 to 100 psi and two modes, floss and massage. The former is more to simulate flossing while the latter is more for gentle gum cleaning.
The Aquarius also isn’t as big as you might think it would be, which is good for small sink counters everywhere. But it still holds 90 seconds of water. For its relatively compact size, we think that’s a fair amount of time for comprehensive coverage.
If you’re serious about oral care and cool to shell out a bit more for it, the Waterpik flosser certainly feels much softer on teeth than traditional floss picks.
8. Amazon Brand Solimo Mint Dental Flossers
BUDGET FLOSS PICKS
If you’re just looking for the lowest-priced decent-sized pack of floss picks to have shipped to your door, the Amazon Brand Solimo Mint Dental Flossers will definitely do the trick. Though you get slightly better value with the Dentek floss picks (by about 1.5 cents per unit), these Solimo floss picks are a bit cheaper overall.
Though they have a nice fold-out pick, the floss isn’t always the best and can get loose and frayed during aggressive flossings. But these floss picks will be better than nothing if you leave them in a bag or car.
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