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Yes, flossing cannot be proven to help. But it cannot be proven to hurt, either, so current recommendations are to do it anyway.
by rootusrootus 2y ago
Yes, flossing cannot be proven to help. But it cannot be proven to hurt, either, so current recommendations are to do it anyway.
- krackers 2y ago>cannot be proven to hurt Inserting floss between your teeth pushes them slightly apart. I wonder if that could have any negatives?
- bsmith 2y agoConsidering orthodontic treatments, no. I imagine you could damage the connective tissues under the gums though.
- camgunz 2y agoYou can say the exact same thing about eating a blank piece of paper twice a day. Pascal's wager is no way to live life.
- Barrin92 2y ago>But it cannot be proven to hurt, either, so current recommendations are to do it anyway. That's not a meaningful standard for any health intervention. If I'd apply everything to my body that wasn't proven to hurt I'd spend a hundred bucks every morning and two hours in the bathroom. If "it doesn't hurt" was sufficient basis for a recommendation our doctors would tell us to swallow homeopathic medicine every morning. It seems pretty obvious that anything you apply has to have at least some measurable impact, otherwise you're basically in the same category as the supplement industry.
- mikedelfino 2y agoI'm inclined to believe that preventing food particles from rotting between my teeth is a measurable impact in itself, regardless of whether it directly impacts my health.
- rootusrootus 2y agoYour assumption is that the floss is removing something that brushing does not. Ask your dentist why you should floss and the answer is not removing occasional lodged pieces of food from between your teeth, but cleaning under the gum line. There is no evidence to suggest it works that way, this is what the long term studies have determined.
- mikedelfino 2y agoSo by that rationale, after a thorough brush, flossing would never remove anything?
- svet_0 2y agoplaque and food under gum line
- kart23 2y agoI still floss because I think its gross and I have bad gaps in some of my teeth, but I think flossing can also cause harms, for example some floss has PFAS in it. https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/dental-floss-without-pfas-and-other-harmful-chemicals-a9722832754/ https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/d...
- Supermancho 2y ago> Yes, flossing cannot be proven to help. It's demonstrable that something like a bean skin, lodged in your teeth, will erode the teeth touching it.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- bdjsiqoocwk 2y agoCannot be proven to help if you don't mind your organic matter decomposing in your mouth.
- rootusrootus 2y agoPresumably you brush your teeth. The studies on floss usage do not start with a baseline of doing nothing at all.