> As likely a cause as any was interdental manipulation: teeth cleaning, flossing, heavy brushing. Turns out, bleeding gums are a direct conduit for bacteria to the bloodstream. When I told the family medicine doctor I had gotten “really into flossing during the pandemic,” he said that might have done it. But there was no way to know. Anyway, I wasn’t his problem anymore. That’s the nature of the American medical system: disasters are passed from one MD to another, with little care or concern for how the disaster happened in the first place.

Is it safer to floss or not?