How To Use Dental Floss To Remove A Ring

How To Use Dental Floss To Remove A Ring

Methods for taking off jewelry with dental floss. You know how aggravating it is when a ring you’re trying to remove just won’t budge from your finger. When your finger swells and restricts circulation, for example, you may need to remove your ring quickly for medical reasons. There are other instances, like when you’re working out or trying to get some sleep, when you might want to take off your ring.

Dental floss can be used in either situation to successfully remove rings. If you’re having trouble sawing through a piece of metal, try using some dental floss instead. Using dental floss as a cutting device, dental floss in conjunction with another tool like scissors, and dental floss in conjunction with an adhesive remover like Super Glue or Gorilla Glue are all demonstrated in this article.

A ring is a special piece of jewellery that we keep close to us because it’s meaningful to us. It can mean anything: family, health, friendship, dating, love and so much more. And it symbolises the importance of our relationship with that person. But sometimes things go wrong, and we need to remove the ring. It may be because it’s too small and we don’t want it anymore, or because the ring is stuck on our finger in an unsightly way. Read on to learn more about gained weight ring stuck/emergency ring removal.

How To Use Dental Floss To Remove A Ring

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It’s happened to all of us: thinking the ring that we put on would come off just as easily as when it first went on. But nope, it’s stuck on tight. No amount of tugging will get it off and your poor knuckles, the widest portion of your finger, are sore from all the yanking and heaving that have still produced no results.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you a few different methods and tricks that will have all 10 of your digits giving a thumbs up without taking out the jaws of life, or worse, a ring cutter!

Please note that if your finger is going numb and purple, it may be best to go to the ER and have the ring cut. Your well being is (probably) worth more than the stubborn ring’s integrity.Add TipAsk QuestionCommentDownload

Step 1: Twisting

You’ve been tugging and tugging, but have you tried twisting? For all the methods outlines below, or as your first line of defense, endeavor to twist the ring around your finger: perhaps tiny bends on the ring are obstructing easy removal; twisting could facilitate in promoting better circulation and even pressure. This method will also prevent your skin from bunching up and creating even more resistance.Add TipAsk QuestionCommentDownload

Step 2: Lubricating

Using a slick or greasy substance, such as petroleum jelly, lotion, soapy water, butter, or oil, may be exactly what you need! Slather a liberal amount on, around, and under the ring. If holding unto the ring becomes too slippery for removal, wear a rubber glove on your other hand to help get good leverage.

The greasy substance you use will nearly diminish any friction between your skin and the inner barrel of the ring. Twisting the ring around your finger will mitigate resistance as well.Add TipAsk QuestionCommentDownload

Step 3: Elevating

So the ring went on without, well, any drama, but now that sucker is on there tight! Multiple things could have happened in between putting it on and taking it off. One of those things could be increased blood flow. Try elevating your hand above the general area of your heart. This will decrease the amount of blood flowing to your hand, and hopefully deflate any expansion. Try to keep it up for at least 5-10 minutes.

If you find that you have difficulty removing the same ring on a daily basis, you may want to up your intake of water. Bloating extremities, such as feet and hands, are a cause of dehydration rather than having too much water in your body. This sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s true. Lack of h2o = swelling.Add TipAsk QuestionCommentDownload

Step 4: Cold Water

Think back to you high school chemistry class. Aside from falling asleep, you must recall the teacher telling you something about heat making things expand and cold making things shrink. Well, that teacher knew what they were talking about, and we can apply that principle now in helping to take off a stuck-on ring!

Submerge your hand in a bowl of cold/ice cold water for as long as you can handle. This process will lower your hand’s temperature, subsequently shrinking it slightly, hopefully enough to allow the ring to come right off.Add TipAsk QuestionCommentDownload

Step 5: Dental Floss

This process is more mechanical than the others, but should surely achieve where others have failed. Wrap waxed dental floss around your finger, above where the ring is located. Ensure that the floss is wrapped evenly and smoothly past the lower knuckle, which is probably the point your ring cannot go past. Tuck a small end underneath the ring’s barrel. With this end, begin unwrapping the floss; this will manually force the ring to twist upwards while inadvertently shrinking the size of your knuckle slightly.

Emergency Ring Removal

1 Pass an end of fine string or dental floss under the ring. With the other end, begin tightly wrapping the string around the finger. Ensure that the string is wrapped evenly and smoothly past the lower knuckle. 2 With the end that was passed under the ring, begin unwrapping the string in the same direction.

A stuck ring can simply be the result of wearing a ring that’s too small. It can also be caused from arthritis of joints, which can happen as your body changes over the years. This can cause the joints and/or tissue to swell, which prevents you from removing your ring.

Here’s how to get a ring off safely:

1. Squirt some Windex – yes Windex – on the finger and ring. Or, use any lubricant such as soap or oil.
2. Elevate the hand overhead for 5-10 minutes with ice around the ring and finger.
3. Use dental floss or a thread to compress the swollen finger as shown: 

However, metal braces are the right decision for some people, like younger children who may have trouble consistently wearing removable aligners. If you or your child has metal braces, you need to be sure you’re using the best flossing tools for braces to protect the health of your gums and teeth while they’re being straightened.

Flossing is a particular challenge for people with braces. The metal brackets and wires can get in the way of the floss, preventing you from easily cleaning in between teeth. If you want your teeth to be not only straight, but healthy and stain-free, you need to be sure to floss daily as well as brush thoroughly.

The 4 Best Flossing Tools for Braces:

#4 – Typical Floss with Threaders

You can still use regular floss with your braces, but a little extra help from a floss threader will make things much easier. You simply thread the floss through the threader, thread the floss around the wire and between teeth, floss, and repeat the process between each subsequent tooth. This process may be a little time-consuming, but it’s cheap and effective. There are a number of great brands of floss threaders available, including Dentek, Plackers, GUM, and Crest.

#3 – Oral-B Super Floss

Especially designed for use with braces, Oral-B Super Floss is a step up from using a floss threader. Super Floss is made from a piece of regular floss. At one end, there is a stiff piece of plastic, no bigger than the floss, but rigid enough to insert between your teeth. This plastic end allows you to quickly and easily insert the floss between teeth around braces wire, floss, and then move on to the next area. This product also includes a small area of “spongy” floss between the plastic threader and the regular floss, which allows you to clean further down under the gum line and around brackets and wires to remove more plaque and food particles before you brush.

#2 – AirFloss

The Sonicare AirFloss is a great choice for kids (or adults!) who have trouble taking the time to floss. In about 60 seconds, it can clean your entire mouth with bursts of air, and there’s no string to get caught in your braces. It’s not as inexpensive as floss threaders or Super Floss, but if you dread flossing, it will help you spend less time in front of the bathroom mirror without sacrificing your oral health.

#1 – Waterpik Water Flosser

A water flossing system like Waterpik’s Water Flosser is also ideal for braces. These systems may have a higher up-front cost than plain floss, but they’re much more comfortable and effective than traditional floss, removing as much as 99.9% of plaque when used correctly. Dr. Mullins thinks that water flossers are actually the best flossing tools for braces, because they make it so easy and comfortable to clean your teeth thoroughly!

No matter which flossing solution you choose, it is imperative to floss regularly to keep your teeth healthy. If you don’t, you may have unsightly stains or even damage when you have your braces removed!

Gained Weight Ring Stuck

Slip a short end of the string underneath the ring finger towards the hand. Wrap the long end multiple times around your finger, starting on the ringside to the target knuckle. As you unwind the string, the ring will move slowly over the next knuckle. Repeat the same procedure until you get the ring off.

So you have a wedding or engagement band that you haven’t removed for months or even years, and you want to get it off your finger without using a ring cutter. This is a common problem, especially when you gain weight as a result of pregnancy, weather warm-ups, or some illnesses. Also, your finger can swell due to minor accidents forcing you to remove the ring.

If you want to remove the ring, but you’re scared of a painful process, don’t rush to the emergency room to seek professional help. If you haven’t injured your finger, you can safely remove the ring yourself with little tolerance and the help of some common things you have in your house.

If you exhaust all the methods discussed in this article and the ring is still stuck on your finger, you’ll need to seek professional help or let it cut. If the situation gets worse, you’ll even need to look for emergency care or certain medications to reduce swelling before you can safely remove the ring. That being said, here are five ways to get the ring off your swollen finger safely.

5 Ways to Safely Remove a Stuck Engagement Ring

If your finger is okay, but your engagement ring or wedding ring is stuck, you can try to use the following five methods to get it off. Irrespective of the method you decide to use, gently twist the stuck ring off of your finger. Remember, forcing it can result in additional swelling or cause injuries.

The Cold Water Method to Remove a Ring

Do you know that dehydration can lead to swollen joints? When your body detects dehydration signs, it starts retaining water, which will result in swollen joints, so to solve this problem, you should drink plenty of water. If you drink plenty of water, your body will minimize retention, flushing out excess sodium.

You can also try to lift your hand up for between five and ten minutes. Doing so helps reduce swelling as well as the excess fluid around the joints. After that, submerge your hand in cold water for some minutes, and add ice cubes.

Be sure to add a generous amount of ice cubes into the cold water since overdoing it can result in additional issues. Iced water constricts blood vessels, reducing swelling almost immediately, allowing you to get the ring off.

Mechanical Technique of Removing Stuck Ring

The mechanical method emerged some years ago, and currently, it’s surprisingly effective at getting a seemingly permanently attached ring off your finger. It utilizes dental floss and requires just a little common sense, and doesn’t need an extended period since just some minutes are enough to complete.

The dental floss method is very straightforward, as you only need a standard ribbon or dental floss. With any of these materials, gently twist or pull the ring toward the end of the finger. Slide one end of the dental floss under the tight or moderately tight ring towards your hand, and wrap the extended end around your finger. Make sure you’re starting on the side of the ring you’re aiming to get a ring off.

Ensure the wrapping is moderately tight since it utilizes a compression action to reduce the finger’s circumference. Take care not to wrap the dental floss so tight that there is a high risk of stopping circulation in blood vessels. After reaching almost to the second knuckle, tie the dental floss off to prevent the winding from loosening.

Take the end of the dental floss you carefully threaded under the ring, and unwind it to the wedding band itself. As you do this, the ring will move over the knuckle with every wind until it slides over the long end of the dental floss.

String Method

If you have ever encountered a weight gain problem, or finding it difficult to remove a ring, you have heard about the string method. Millions of people across the world have used this method, and currently, it’s a popular alternative to the ring cut option.

You’ll only need to have a string to remove a ring. The string method is almost similar to the dental floss procedure and requires you to cut a string and then follow these steps:

• Slip a short end of the string underneath the ring finger towards the hand
• Wrap the long end multiple times around your finger, starting on the ringside to the target knuckle
• As you unwind the string, the ring will move slowly over the next knuckle
• Repeat the same procedure until you get the  ring off

An Elastic Band

Another effective method is to use an elastic band. If you seek professional help, the doctor will not cut the ring; instead, they’ll use an elastic band. Most professionals have elastic bands from oxygen masks.

If you are at home, you can use a hair elastic or a regular elastic band to get a ring off without any pain. Wrap the band around the finger up to the ring, which helps compress the skin tissues.

After wrapping the band, use tweezers to feed the other end under the ring. After that, simply pull the elastic band’s end in the reverse direction, which spirals the ring, making it move over the compressed skin tissues of the finger.

Remove a Ring with Lubricant

Many products in the house can act as lubricants to help get a ring off your finger, including petroleum jelly, dish soap, cooking oil, and olive oil, among others. When using any of these products as a lubricant, you should put on a latex or any other rubber glove to allow you to grip the lubricated ring.

These products will not reduce any swelling; they just make the skin slippery so that you can pull off the ring easily. If you’re using dish soap, you should use it alongside cool water since as the water constricts the blood vessels to reduce swelling, the soap makes the skin slippery and lubricates the ring, boosting its movement.

If you or your child wears traditional metal braces, then your orthodontist likely stresses the importance of brushing and flossing every day to maintain good dental health. However, like many braces wearers, you may find flossing such a challenge that you skip this step in your oral hygiene routine on occasion or even neglect it completely.

Unfortunately, no matter how well you brush, you should always floss at least once a day. Flossing helps remove plaque from between teeth and below the gumline that is difficult to remove with a toothbrush alone. If you do not remove this plaque on a daily basis, then you could develop gum disease or cavities between your teeth.

Read on to learn four tips that make it easier to floss while you wear braces.

1. Use the Right Traditional Flossing Tools

One of the most time-tested and affordable ways to floss your teeth while you wear braces is to use traditional dental floss combined with a special device called a dental floss threader.

Check the label of your floss to ensure that it is waxed and not unwaxed floss. Unwaxed floss can shred when it rubs against braces wires and brackets, while waxed floss tends to glide over them smoothly.

Braces floss threaders are small loops of very stiff floss. They resemble large sewing needles. If you have difficulty maneuvering dental floss underneath your braces’ wires, you might accomplish the task much more easily with the aid of a stiff floss threader.

To use a floss threader, simply connect your floss to the loop, as you would thread a sewing needle, then use the threader to thread the floss under your braces’ wires as you floss instead of attempting to do it with your fingers.

2. Look for Orthodontic Flossers

If you enjoyed the use of floss picks — small pieces of dental floss attached to small plastic handles —  before you obtained braces, then you will be happy to hear that there are similar flossing tools made specifically for braces wearers.

Traditional floss picks have wide handles that are impossible to maneuver under braces wires, but orthodontic floss picks are attached to very narrow handles that often slide right under braces’ wires. Many braces wearers not only find these floss picks much easier to use than traditional floss but also find that they make flossing a much quicker task.

3. Try an Interdental Cleaner

If you would like to skip the traditional dental floss altogether, then you may want to try one of the many different interdental cleaners available today.

Some interdental cleaners are short, thin sticks made of a stiff, yet flexible material called polypropylene. You simply glide these short sticks between your teeth to remove tartar and food particles.

Other interdental cleaners, called interdental brushes, consist of thin, flexible wires with short bristles attached to them. You slide these brushes between your teeth and under the gum line to remove plaque. These brushes come in many diameters meant to perform different dental cleaning tasks, so be sure to choose a brush with a very small diameter to avoid damaging your teeth or gums.

4. Consider a Water Flosser

Another way to clean between your teeth and under your gum line when you wear braces is to use a water flosser. Water flossers project thin streams of water on and between your teeth. Water flossers can be used to remove plaque between teeth and under the gum line, just as traditional dental floss does.