Dr. Nicole Robins, DDS is a general dentist and the founder of Vigée, a boutique dental studio she opened in December 2025 with comfort, artistry, and connection at the heart of every visit. A dancer and dance teacher before she became a dentist, she graduated from the University of Alberta dental school in 2021 and has spent the five years since building a practice that treats function, health, and beauty as one conversation. Inspired by her aunt's work as a dental assistant, Dr. Robins wants to help all ages feel comfortable and confident at their dental appointments. Here's what she had to say about flossing, patient trust, and the tools that actually change behavior.
Flossing and Patient Education
What's the most common flossing mistake you see patients make, and how do you correct it?
Slamming the floss straight down and popping it back out. People think one gap is one motion. It's two. There are two tooth surfaces in every space, and each one needs its own pass. You wrap string floss into a C shape around the first tooth, slide it gently under the gumline, and rub up and down a few times. Then you release, curve it the other way against the neighbouring tooth, and repeat. Two surfaces, two hugs, one gap.
Snapping straight down does two things wrong. It misses the plaque entirely, because plaque sits on the sides of the teeth and below the gumline, not in the empty space between them. And the force cuts into the tissue, which is why some people who floss aggressively end up with clefts in their gums and assume flossing is hurting them.
The fix takes about thirty seconds to teach. I hand them the floss and have them do it in front of me, because watching someone do it is completely different from telling them how. And I always say the same thing. If it bleeds with this correct technique, that's not a reason to stop. That's the reason to keep going. Healthy gums don't bleed.
What is one thing you wish every patient knew about their oral health?
That cavities and gum disease are rarely about how hard you're brushing. They're about the environment in your mouth.
Dry mouth is one of the biggest drivers. Saliva neutralizes acid, remineralizes enamel, and washes bacteria away. Mouth breathing, medications, dehydration, and a nervous system stuck in fight or flight all shut saliva down. I've seen people with impeccable habits and rampant decay purely because their mouth is dry.
The second driver is acid, not sugar: sparkling flavoured water, kombucha, wine, citrus, pre-workout, silent reflux at night. Every exposure softens enamel for about thirty minutes, so it isn't the amount; it's the frequency.
And stress and hormones affect your gums more than people realize. Cortisol suppresses your immune response. Pregnancy, your cycle, and menopause change how your gums react to the exact same amount of plaque. Same routine, completely different result. So, if you're doing everything right and still struggling, you're not failing. Something in your environment is working against you, and that's the thing worth finding.
Why do you believe flossing is a non-negotiable part of oral health, and how do you communicate that to patients?
Because your mouth is not separate from your body. It's one of the first places systemic disease shows up, and flossing is the cheapest, fastest thing a person can do to protect far more than their teeth.
Brushing reaches about 60% of the tooth surface. The other 40% is where gum disease starts, and gum disease isn't a local problem. Those bacteria enter the bloodstream and drive inflammation everywhere. It's been linked to heart disease and stroke, Alzheimer's, preterm birth, insulin resistance, and fertility.
As for how I say it, I never lead with shame. Most people were told to floss and never told why, and being lectured has never changed a single habit; understanding does. So I show people their own mouth, explain what it means for their heart, their brain, their pregnancy. Then I let them decide.
Most people want to be healthy when you actually give them the option to be healthy. My job is to make sure they're choosing with full information, not with guilt. That's the difference between compliance and ownership. One lasts a week. The other lasts a lifetime.
How do you help hesitant or anxious patients build better flossing habits?
First, I find out why they're avoiding it, because the reason is never laziness. Usually it hurts, it bleeds, or they were shamed about it once. If it bleeds, I explain that bleeding is inflammation, not injury, and it stops within about two weeks of consistency. Knowing it's temporary changes everything. Then I make the goal embarrassingly small. Just the back teeth tonight, because that's where decay starts. I'd rather someone do three teeth every day than a perfect job twice a month.
I let them choose their tool too: floss picks, soft picks, a water flosser. The best one is the one they'll actually use, and I tie it to something they already do. Willpower fades, but routine doesn't.
Why Dr. Robins Recommends Slate
How did you first discover Slate products, and what made you want to try them?
Honestly, I found it on Instagram.
What stopped my scroll was the design, and the education about gum health that came with the ads. That combination is rare. Most oral care marketing is either pretty and hollow or accurate and unwatchable.
The design is sleek, practical, and genuinely nice to look at. That matters more than people think, because the tools that live on your counter are the ones you actually use, and they only earn a spot on the counter if they look good enough to leave out.
And you don't have to stick your hand in your mouth! That sounds small, but it's the entire reason most people quit. Wrapping string around your fingers, cranking your jaw open, trying to reach the back molars where decay actually starts. It's awkward, so it doesn't happen.
Easier means they'll actually do it. That's the whole equation. Most of my patients aren't refusing to floss because they don't care. They're refusing because it's uncomfortable and they can't reach. Handing them something practical and well-designed is a much better answer than telling them to try harder.
What sets Slate apart from other oral care products you've used or recommended in the past?
Three things.
The floss itself. Other electric flossers I've tried use floss that loosens and frays as you work, and once the tension is gone, you're just dragging string. Slate's woven floss stays taut, so you're actually getting contact with the surface where the plaque lives. That's the difference between flossing and going through the motions of flossing.
The vibration. It isn't a gimmick. That movement disrupts and lifts noticeably more debris than a passive pass with string, especially below the gumline where it matters most.
And the tongue scraper being built in. Most people skip tongue scraping entirely, even though it clears more bad breath than any mouthwash and supports a healthier gut. Building it into the same tool means it stops being a separate step they have to remember and a separate thing to buy.
That's what sets it apart for me. It isn't one clever feature. It's that all three jobs happen in one place, in under a minute, with a tool people are actually willing to keep on the counter.
Have you noticed a difference in your patients' oral health outcomes since recommending Slate?
Yes, and the difference shows up in the same place every time. Compliance.
I can teach perfect technique all day, but if the tool is annoying, it doesn't get used. What I've seen since recommending Slate is people who used to floss twice a month now doing it daily, and gum tissue responds fast to that. Bleeding on probing drops. Inflammation calms. Hygiene appointments get easier and shorter, which makes people less anxious about coming back, which in turn makes them come back.
In Her Own Routine
What does your own personal oral care routine look like? Any habits or products you swear by?
Consistency.
I use an electric toothbrush with soft bristles, the Slate Pro Flosser, and the tongue scraper on the back of it. Then I use a water flosser with a pH-balanced rinse in the reservoir. I run it along my gums, the roof of my mouth, and over a freshly scraped tongue. That combination gives the freshest breath by far, because most bad breath bacteria live on the tongue and palate, not the teeth.
I don't whiten, since I have veneers and porcelain doesn't stain. What it needs instead is gentle care. A low-abrasion toothpaste, nothing with charcoal or whitening grit, and no acidic rinses, which are hard on the porcelain glaze and on your oral microbiome, and that microbiome feeds straight into your gut.
Is there anything else you'd like to share with our community?
Fun fact: I was a dancer, and I taught dance for years before I ever picked up a handpiece. People are always a little surprised by that, but it makes complete sense to me. Dance is precision and artistry at the same time. Millimetres matter, symmetry matters, and you're trying to make something that took enormous technical work look completely effortless. That's exactly what cosmetic dentistry is. When someone says a smile looks like they were born with it, that's the highest compliment.
My message, though, is simpler than that. Be kind. Kindness is not weakness, and it costs you nothing. I believe that listening is the most underrated form of kindness there is. When someone speaks to you in anger, you're usually hearing the scared eight-year-old version of them, so soften and meet it with love.
Leave everything better than you found it.
