No strong proof that flossing your teeth has medical benefit

[edro]

Aw crap.
I haven't been to the dentist in over a year.
Time to start flossing!

 

[Yakk]

Needed or not, you can easily see the people who do not floss when you are talking and laughing with them.

I'd rather they floss.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Once you are used to doing it it's no longer tedious. It is addictive.

I will say though that it seems like regularly flossing has increased my susceptibility to getting shit stuck in my teeth. Or maybe I just notice it more now but flossing is an absolutely mandatory part of my routine plus GUM picks immediately after every meal. Those things are magic.

Viper GTS

I have noticed the susceptibility increase too. Has to be just that you notice, like when you buy a certain car and then you see them all over the roadways all of sudden.

 

[zinfamous]

I knew I was always right! But I understand the need to do it simply because it feels better.

Swabbing your ears is absolutely the wrong the thing to do, but I will continue to do it anyway because it feels like accomplishment.

 

[SP33Demon]

I haven't flossed or gone to the dentist in 10 years. Got checked a few months back, still no cavities and the dentist still telling me to floss. She said even mercedes need maintenance every now and then. I told her that was why I was there. But cool that she said I have excellent teeth and compared them to an expensive car.

 

[rudder]

I don't like going to bed with chunks of food in between my teeth.

 

[yuchai]

Personally flossing helped with gum health (less chance of swollen/bleeding gums) and reducing bad breath. I will continue to regularly floss, although in my experience flossing daily versus once every 2 days doesn't really make a difference.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Yeah I went through a deep cleaning after years of no flossing and brushing once a day. Not trying to do that again.

 

[purbeast0]

Personally flossing helped with gum health (less chance of swollen/bleeding gums) and reducing bad breath. I will continue to regularly floss, although in my experience flossing daily versus once every 2 days doesn't really make a difference.

an electric toothbrush really helped my gum health as well. been using one for a couple years now and it's hard to go back. i left my toothbrush at home last week when i was in san diego and i had to buy a traditional toothbrush out there and i almost forgot how it felt to use one.

 

[smackababy]

I've always figured flossing was similar to the "change your oil every 3000 miles" rule. It's outdated and technology has made it far less needed, and it was likely the guys selling the oil that told you.

 

[Cappuccino]

Flossing is like smoking. Once you get addicted to it you use it no matter what. Flossing is pointless it does not work unless you eat 10 bars of peanut chocalate bars a day. I study Dentistry and I can confirm that only hipsters floss.

 

[Jaskalas]

Yeah... they need to study waterpik.

 

[Brainonska511]

Study is seriously flawed and flies in the face of common sense.

Scientific results are not about "common sense". If it was, we wouldn't bother running studies and experiments in the first place, since we'd already know the answer.

The issue here is simply that prior studies did not have appropriate statistical power or had other problems, leaving us with flimsy evidence in favor of flossing. It doesn't say that flossing is a waste of time, just that we don't have enough good evidence to definitively say one way or another.

 

[z1ggy]

I've known about this for a while now. Just brush 2 times a day, rinse with a non alcohol based rinse, and you're generally fine. IF you eat tons of sugary foods though, you might be SOL regardless.

 

[tortoise]

Floss loop with center knot . . so easy even a millennial could do it!

http://imgur.com/a/aenV2

 

[Cappuccino]

I've known about this for a while now. Just brush 2 times a day, rinse with a non alcohol based rinse, and you're generally fine. IF you eat tons of sugary foods though, you might be SOL regardless.

imo i think kids should floss and adults do not.

 

[GobBluth]

Yeah, but it can't hurt, right? So even if it isn't as beneficial as they say, I'm sure there is some benefit to it. I'm not a regular flosser, i'll admit it, but logically it makes sense. Right?

 

[NetWareHead]

Scientific results are not about "common sense". If it was, we wouldn't bother running studies and experiments in the first place, since we'd already know the answer.

The issue here is simply that prior studies did not have appropriate statistical power or had other problems, leaving us with flimsy evidence in favor of flossing. It doesn't say that flossing is a waste of time, just that we don't have enough good evidence to definitively say one way or another.

While I truly understand your point about scientific results and agree with the need to always test/question the status quo, the actual results of the study IMO cannot be taken seriously and I strongly disagree with them.

 

[Zeze]

this x ten bajillion infinities. I could never live without floss.

Also rotten food smells like rotting skunk ass. no one likes bad breath. Except Kentucky.

Bad breath primarily (90%+) comes from your tongue- all the gunk on the soft tissue, not minuscule food stuck between your teeth.

Tongue scraper is a MUST. It's disgusting and satisfying to see the film of gunk you scrape off.

 

[z1ggy]

Yeah, but it can't hurt, right? So even if it isn't as beneficial as they say, I'm sure there is some benefit to it. I'm not a regular flosser, i'll admit it, but logically it makes sense. Right?

It can't hurt, sure, but the study said there was no statistical difference between those who flossed + brush regularly, compared to those who just brushed.

So, why waste your time and money? You're better off investing in a quality toothbrush and spending the extra time brushing, that you would have flossing.

The only time I can see flossing as being needed is when say some corn or steak is stuck between the teeth.

 

[SP33Demon]

I've known about this for a while now. Just brush 2 times a day, rinse with a non alcohol based rinse, and you're generally fine. IF you eat tons of sugary foods though, you might be SOL regardless.

Yup basically this, except I only brush once a day since I don't eat breakfast. A couple things I do are avoid sugar and chew sugar free gum. Not sure if that helps but I'm late 30's and cavity free.

 

[Jeff7]

Leaving food stuck inbetween your teeth is not good and leads to cavities. My first root canal was caused by a cavity inbetween my teeth which flossing could have prevented. That root canal taught me the hard way and I now floss religiously. Flossing reaches the areas between the teeth that a toothbrush can't.

Study is seriously flawed and flies in the face of common sense.

But I'm sure it'll be cited and repeated forever even when/if it is eventually re-refuted, like that damn "6-8 glasses of water a day" BS that omits the "but you get a lot of that liquid requirement from your food" part.

 

[Brainonska511]

While I truly understand your point about scientific results and agree with the need to always test/question the status quo, the actual results of the study IMO cannot be taken seriously and I strongly disagree with them.

Upon further reading, the it wasn't even a study here. Government recommendations are by law required to be based on science. Thus, people found it strange that the flossing recommendation was removed and started to ask why. They found that the latest meta-analyses (effectively, a review of the studies done previously) and existing studies found the evidence to simply be flimsy for a variety of reasons, which could mainly indicate that better studies need to be designed and more evidence should be gathered. The absence of reliable evidence is not evidence of the ineffectiveness of flossing. I don't see a big reason to get so upset over it.

 

[Linux23]

you've never had a meal where you can feel chunks of food stuck between your teeth? i've definitely had meals where i get like a piece of steak or something stuck between my teeth to the point that it is pushing on my gum between the teeth and it hurts. if i'm at home and this happens i just go floss to get rid of it. it's really uncomfortable.

I've had that plenty of times but my dentist determined that I had spacing issues between my teeth. After it was fixed I have no more stuck food issues.

Out of habit I do floss at least 3-4 times a week. I just hate it when my gums start bleeding.

 

[Ricochet]

Leaving food stuck inbetween your teeth is not good and leads to cavities. My first root canal was caused by a cavity inbetween my teeth which flossing could have prevented. That root canal taught me the hard way and I now floss religiously. Flossing reaches the areas between the teeth that a toothbrush can't.

Study is seriously flawed and flies in the face of common sense.

Agreed. Floss after you eat you see food particles fly out. WTF makes anyone think that leaving food particle in between teeth is a good thing?

This article reeks of "let's go against conventional wisdom so we attract more views" like all those new age diet articles.

Edit: Okay, maybe not. After reading the article, it may be just flawed studies.