6 ms·

Brushing teeth is a must but flossing wasn't proven to have measurable effect on teeth health last time I checked.

csunbird 7y ago
(Not a dentist) Depends on the brush usage and type of the brush I would say, some brushes are not able to pick up small leftover food between teeth. I find it incredibly useful to floss before sleeping, since that is the time where you are guaranteed to not eat or drink anything for a long time, not giving any chance for bacteria to grow.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  I have a Waterpik and also do oil pulling with coconut oil almost every day. Especially with the coconut oil the dentist noticed a difference in gum health even without me telling him.
  - manmal 7y ago
    How long do you pull? Is 2m enough?
    - Ididntdothis 7y ago
      Ten minutes. At first I hated the oil but now I kind of like it.
  - adrianN 7y ago
    Last time I checked there was no evidence that oil pulling did anything that normal mouth wash couldn't do better.
    - Ididntdothis 7y ago
      For me it feels different , less aggressive. It’s also cheaper. But whatever works for you, do it.
  - forgetfulusr 7y ago
    the waterpik is the most useful tool I found this decade. I think I have become over-reliant on it. My teeth barely have any space between them, so I always end up tearing the regular string floss, and I would never be able to reach/cover so many parts of the mouth without a waterpik/ water flosser. Had not heard of oil pulling, thanks!
    - shortandsweet 7y ago
      Do you find it more or less effective than regular flossing? I've been looking for alternatives to plastic picks/floss. Also they seem to be damaging my gums as I floss too hard
      - Ididntdothis 7y ago
        That’s just me but I am fairly certain that the Waterpik benefits my teeth and gums more than flossing. I do both but if I had to drop one it would be flossing.
      - forgetfulusr 7y ago
        More effective since I barely did any regular flossing before. I have(or had) sensitive gums and I would constantly bleed and I never developed a proper technique and habit with regular floss. with this, it feels like everything between the teeth gets flushed. The string floss still gets used when I am out (no more bleeding) but even once I get home I use the Waterpik, and I can still see some bits I missed. This sounds like an ad but I have been super satisfied with a Mornwell wireless oral irrigator. ideal usecase for a wireless charging station, since I always worried about it being wet near wirea with the older ones I had. I am still waiting for something bad to happen to me since this has helped me too much.
    - magduf 7y ago
      I use the Crest "Glide" floss; with regular floss, I'm constantly cutting it in half between some of my teeth which are very close together, but the Glide stuff seems to work much better. Strangely, I've had one dentist tell me Glide floss is horrible and I should use some other floss that's "fluffy" (sorry, can't remember the brand/type, I think it was a J&J product), while more recent dentists give me Glide samples every time I visit. I tried that other dentist's recommended floss for a little while, but it was the absolute worst I tried in terms of tearing; it was basically unusable because it just kept getting ripped in half due to my tight contacts.
- zerkten 7y ago
  It depends on your teeth too. We can appear to have near perfect teeth, but they can still be compromised in a way that flossing can help.
clSTophEjUdRanu 7y ago
Do you really need a study to prove you shouldn't have rotting food stuck between your teeth?
- ekianjo 7y ago
  Why not? You have saliva in your mouth with enzymes that usually get in a number of remote places anyway. Not sure why you would assume flossing is required if there are other mechanisms that already take care of that problem.
  - MichaelApproved 7y ago
    Don't floss for a month and see how well saliva is at breaking down the food between your teeth. There are lots of mechanisms your body has that are adequate enough to get you to puberty, so you can reproduce. If you want better than adequate, you should floss.
    - magduf 7y ago
      Another important factor with these "our bodies already have a natural mechanism..." arguments is that we don't eat the same foods that prehistoric people did when they evolved, in addition to the fact that we now expect to live to 80-100 while still being highly mobile and having all our original teeth if possible. Prehistoric people did live to old age if they didn't get killed by disease or wild animals or accidents or murder, but they probably didn't look too good at that age and probably didn't have many teeth left either.
- MichaelApproved 7y ago
  You should be asking for the study that proves flossing is beneficial.
wmeredith 7y ago
There was a huge (flawed) news story back in 2016 that reported flossing wasn’t worth it and it spread like wildfire because people don’t like to floss. Kind of like how there’s a big “wine/chocolate is good for you” article every couple years. I’ve worked alongside dentists in and off in a marketing capacity. I’ve also been married to one for 15+ years and I can tell you that every dentist in the country can look in your mouth and knows whether you floss regularly or not by the amount of plaque built up between your teeth. And plaque is bad. The NIH published an article shortly after the one I mentioned above to try and combat the misinformation: https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2016/11/dont-toss-floss https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2016/11/dont-toss-floss More on Snopes: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.snopes.com/news/2016/08/06/flossing-isnt-backed-by-science/amp/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.snopes.com/news/2016/08/06/... TL;DR: flossing is poorly executed by most people (much like brushing) and the studies on it are flawed, but you’d be hard pressed to find an oral healthcare pro that would recommend against it, and almost all are for it. And no, there is no “big flossing lobby” pushing it.
- lonelappde 7y ago
  Then why have my dentists over the past decades always asked me how much I floss (I don't) instead of giving me increasingly severe warnings about my tooth damage due to lack of flossing?
  - abootstrapper 7y ago
    “How much do you floss?” In no way implies they think you floss often. It’s actually the reverse. For example, if someone ask “How much do you shower?” It’s a not so subtle hint that you stink, not that they think you shower often.
- lonelappde 7y ago
  You aren't contradicting parent poster. Snopes conformed that flossing is backed only by the speculation and comical bias of dentists who don't collect data careful. (Healthy gums are assumed to be evidence for flossing, therefore flossing is confused to be evidence for healthy gums).
- 7y ago
qrbLPHiKpiux 7y ago
Dentist here. The main take away from the study is that if you’re not flossing the right way, don’t bother because it won’t do any good. So floss the right way.
- Covzire 7y ago
  What's your opinion of picks? I use about 3 or 4 a day after meals and always remove a little matter stuck between teeth that no doubt could serve as bacteria buffet. Surely getting rid of those bacterial food sources is better than "bad flossing" right?
  - qrbLPHiKpiux 7y ago
    I personally use Plackers brand picks.
lr4444lr 7y ago
It has an effect on gum health, which is far more important for the integrity of your teeth and overall health than some superficial crevices that can be filled. EDIT: Also, we understand the mechanism by which food left in the teeth contributes to gum disease very well. I'm all for demanding high quality epidemiological evidence when we just have a hunch about things, because we deserve at least some correlational power to any claim, but the way in which this data is collected by something as difficult to monitor, annoying to some people, and socially pressured as oral hygiene is deservedly suspect IMHO given our direct clinical knowledge of the health matter in question: it's aetiology, progression, and reversal, on an observable level per organism is very well understood by modern dentistry, AFAIK.

(Not a dentist) Depends on the brush usage and type of the brush I would say, some brushes are not able to pick up small leftover food between teeth. I find it incredibly useful to floss before sleeping, since that is the time where you are guaranteed to not eat or drink anything for a long time, not giving any chance for bacteria to grow.

Ididntdothis 7y ago
I have a Waterpik and also do oil pulling with coconut oil almost every day. Especially with the coconut oil the dentist noticed a difference in gum health even without me telling him.
- manmal 7y ago
  How long do you pull? Is 2m enough?
  - Ididntdothis 7y ago
    Ten minutes. At first I hated the oil but now I kind of like it.
- adrianN 7y ago
  Last time I checked there was no evidence that oil pulling did anything that normal mouth wash couldn't do better.
  - Ididntdothis 7y ago
    For me it feels different , less aggressive. It’s also cheaper. But whatever works for you, do it.
- forgetfulusr 7y ago
  the waterpik is the most useful tool I found this decade. I think I have become over-reliant on it. My teeth barely have any space between them, so I always end up tearing the regular string floss, and I would never be able to reach/cover so many parts of the mouth without a waterpik/ water flosser. Had not heard of oil pulling, thanks!
  - shortandsweet 7y ago
    Do you find it more or less effective than regular flossing? I've been looking for alternatives to plastic picks/floss. Also they seem to be damaging my gums as I floss too hard
    - Ididntdothis 7y ago
      That’s just me but I am fairly certain that the Waterpik benefits my teeth and gums more than flossing. I do both but if I had to drop one it would be flossing.
    - forgetfulusr 7y ago
      More effective since I barely did any regular flossing before. I have(or had) sensitive gums and I would constantly bleed and I never developed a proper technique and habit with regular floss. with this, it feels like everything between the teeth gets flushed. The string floss still gets used when I am out (no more bleeding) but even once I get home I use the Waterpik, and I can still see some bits I missed. This sounds like an ad but I have been super satisfied with a Mornwell wireless oral irrigator. ideal usecase for a wireless charging station, since I always worried about it being wet near wirea with the older ones I had. I am still waiting for something bad to happen to me since this has helped me too much.
  - magduf 7y ago
    I use the Crest "Glide" floss; with regular floss, I'm constantly cutting it in half between some of my teeth which are very close together, but the Glide stuff seems to work much better. Strangely, I've had one dentist tell me Glide floss is horrible and I should use some other floss that's "fluffy" (sorry, can't remember the brand/type, I think it was a J&J product), while more recent dentists give me Glide samples every time I visit. I tried that other dentist's recommended floss for a little while, but it was the absolute worst I tried in terms of tearing; it was basically unusable because it just kept getting ripped in half due to my tight contacts.
zerkten 7y ago
It depends on your teeth too. We can appear to have near perfect teeth, but they can still be compromised in a way that flossing can help.

clSTophEjUdRanu 7y ago

Do you really need a study to prove you shouldn't have rotting food stuck between your teeth?

ekianjo 7y ago
Why not? You have saliva in your mouth with enzymes that usually get in a number of remote places anyway. Not sure why you would assume flossing is required if there are other mechanisms that already take care of that problem.
- MichaelApproved 7y ago
  Don't floss for a month and see how well saliva is at breaking down the food between your teeth. There are lots of mechanisms your body has that are adequate enough to get you to puberty, so you can reproduce. If you want better than adequate, you should floss.
  - magduf 7y ago
    Another important factor with these "our bodies already have a natural mechanism..." arguments is that we don't eat the same foods that prehistoric people did when they evolved, in addition to the fact that we now expect to live to 80-100 while still being highly mobile and having all our original teeth if possible. Prehistoric people did live to old age if they didn't get killed by disease or wild animals or accidents or murder, but they probably didn't look too good at that age and probably didn't have many teeth left either.
MichaelApproved 7y ago
You should be asking for the study that proves flossing is beneficial.

wmeredith 7y ago

There was a huge (flawed) news story back in 2016 that reported flossing wasn’t worth it and it spread like wildfire because people don’t like to floss. Kind of like how there’s a big “wine/chocolate is good for you” article every couple years. I’ve worked alongside dentists in and off in a marketing capacity. I’ve also been married to one for 15+ years and I can tell you that every dentist in the country can look in your mouth and knows whether you floss regularly or not by the amount of plaque built up between your teeth. And plaque is bad. The NIH published an article shortly after the one I mentioned above to try and combat the misinformation: https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2016/11/dont-toss-floss https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2016/11/dont-toss-floss More on Snopes: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.snopes.com/news/2016/08/06/flossing-isnt-backed-by-science/amp/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.snopes.com/news/2016/08/06/... TL;DR: flossing is poorly executed by most people (much like brushing) and the studies on it are flawed, but you’d be hard pressed to find an oral healthcare pro that would recommend against it, and almost all are for it. And no, there is no “big flossing lobby” pushing it.

lonelappde 7y ago
Then why have my dentists over the past decades always asked me how much I floss (I don't) instead of giving me increasingly severe warnings about my tooth damage due to lack of flossing?
- abootstrapper 7y ago
  “How much do you floss?” In no way implies they think you floss often. It’s actually the reverse. For example, if someone ask “How much do you shower?” It’s a not so subtle hint that you stink, not that they think you shower often.
lonelappde 7y ago
You aren't contradicting parent poster. Snopes conformed that flossing is backed only by the speculation and comical bias of dentists who don't collect data careful. (Healthy gums are assumed to be evidence for flossing, therefore flossing is confused to be evidence for healthy gums).
7y ago

qrbLPHiKpiux 7y ago

Dentist here. The main take away from the study is that if you’re not flossing the right way, don’t bother because it won’t do any good. So floss the right way.

Covzire 7y ago
What's your opinion of picks? I use about 3 or 4 a day after meals and always remove a little matter stuck between teeth that no doubt could serve as bacteria buffet. Surely getting rid of those bacterial food sources is better than "bad flossing" right?
- qrbLPHiKpiux 7y ago
  I personally use Plackers brand picks.

lr4444lr 7y ago

It has an effect on gum health, which is far more important for the integrity of your teeth and overall health than some superficial crevices that can be filled. EDIT: Also, we understand the mechanism by which food left in the teeth contributes to gum disease very well. I'm all for demanding high quality epidemiological evidence when we just have a hunch about things, because we deserve at least some correlational power to any claim, but the way in which this data is collected by something as difficult to monitor, annoying to some people, and socially pressured as oral hygiene is deservedly suspect IMHO given our direct clinical knowledge of the health matter in question: it's aetiology, progression, and reversal, on an observable level per organism is very well understood by modern dentistry, AFAIK.