There's little proof flossing protects your teeth or gums (2016) | Hacker News Reader

There's little proof flossing protects your teeth or gums (2016)

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20 pointsFervicus24 comments

I don’t floss every day but I do floss and frequently dislodge food caught between teeth or whatever. No one will convince me that leaving it to rot inside my gums and teeth is good. At the very minimum, it’ll stink.

I also occasionally develop a minor infection in my gums if I’ve not flossed in a while that flossing the area relieves. As a sample of one, it’s effective. If I do it it relieves the infection, if I don’t it doesn’t. Maybe my experiences don’t generalize but I suspect I’m not that rare of a human being. I generally have healthy teeth and gums, never have had cavities, and my dentist says she’s rarely seen healthier teeth especially at around 50. YMMV.

Came here to write all of this. Even once a day is totally worth it.

I got myself a waterpik (water flosser) and got a sore throat for a few days after I first started using it. I'm going to assume this was due to the crud moving out from between my teeth. Recommend water flossers, I much prefer it to using conventional floss.

A warning though, water won't 100% wash away any scum. I recall reading an article somewhere saying that dentists still recommends conventional floss once in a while to remove any stubborn scum if you're using Waterpik. (That dentist doesn't say you should stop using Waterpik, though.)

> The majority of available studies fail to demonstrate that flossing is generally effective in plaque removal

How about removing gunk left from eating? Anyone who did a bit of flossing knows it’s very effective at that.

> One study review in 2011 did credit floss with a slight reduction in gum inflammation [..] A commentary in a dental magazine stated that any benefit would be so minute it might not be noticed by users.

The benefit of brushing your teeth will also not be noticed immediately, it’s still a really good idea to do it. And as someone who didn’t floss for a long time but does now I am quite sure there are benefits. And my dentist can immediately tell.

I truly think one will miss out on best health practices if he waits for proof. What does your own experience teach you? Besides, flossing is about more than teeth and gum health:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/19/inflam...

Bit off-topic but interestingly the title of the article is "There's little proof flossing protects your teeth or gums" but when you, for example, send the link to somebody over (insert your favorite instant messenger with link previews), the title in the preview changes to a much more clickbait-y "Is flossing a waste of time?"

Title was probably updated after being cached by your messenger's web preview bot.

Or less likely, they're actually serving a different page to the preview bot.

After every meal, rinse your mouth as aggressively as is socially acceptable to do so wherever you are at the moment. Beats everything else.

Just use proper toothpicks. It’s more important than floss

Just don’t use wax floss. The wax is usually PFAS.

What, really?

Lots of "glide"-style floss is PTFE tape: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral-B_Glide.

You can buy non-PTFE floss, like https://www.test.de/Zahnseide-Faedeln-ohne-schaedliche-Chemi....

It's not really about "waxed" vs non-waxed, though.

Or better still use a water flosser.

I like TreeBird's floss. They have silk and bamboo/charcoal kinds. They are very affordable, IMO. I buy their bamboo/charcoal refill pack for $18 and it lasts me a long time. I floss everyday and I use excessive yardage of floss, yet still it lasts a long time. Their containers are cool (glass and steel). Strongly recommend it.

https://treebirdeco.com/collections/floss

Phew--I can keep my waxed floss.

I mean, yeah, OK, try not flossing...

"You only need to floss the teeth you intend to keep." —my incredible dentist

There must be some other factors at play or I'd be much worse off. I've only had a single cavity in thirty years and I've never flossed once. I always get compliments from dentists even though I don't even remember to brush my teeth every day.

Anecdotally, I've had dentists notice the difference between when I am flossing regularly vs not at all and it has shown up in my gum measurements. I would even argue I've seen more benefit from flossing than brushing for my gum health. Though I've never had any cavities as well.

Same. I try not to eat sugar and especially candy/sweets. I don’t drink soda. I brush once or twice a day. I don’t even have wisdom teeth (pretty rare) so maybe I’m just that lucky.

I’m 31 and have perfectly healthy teeth and gums. One minor cavity fixed ~8 years ago. No problems since. Never flossed.

I always get the feeling that flossing is big in the US and not in Europe because of food quality.

this is partialy true, as I can attest to having changed my diet very considerably and now eat only food cooked from basic ingredidients, with no prepared sauces or anything with long long lists of ingredients.....as simple as I can get....sort of semi keto,no wheat most complex thing is cheese.....and along with many other health benifits, my oral health is much better, and nit picky flossing is no longer nessesary, now flossing just to help clear something that is lodged, still brush, but until recently I was having "issues" should I neglect things. I should add, that my dietary changes, seem to have supported the resumption of a very physical lifestyle, which also seems to feed back into having less little health issues, now healing from injuries quickly, cuts, torn ligaments that sort of stuff that was slow and lingering. I think that this is more important for people like me, who were/are very physical, others who have always been more moderate,....or exclusivly moderate.....seem to thrive with very different daily habits and inputs, but in general terms, good food just cant hurt anybody.....so

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