Dental floss - overpriced and ineffective?

There’s no question that as consumers we’re often gulled into buying things that we don’t “need” (and in fact, many times duped into buying things “for our own good” that are actually harmful to us), but… so what?

I don’t quibble over the cost of floss, and I won’t even with the presentation that you’ve made here. Dental floss is useful to me, in the same way that toothpicks are, for cleaning things from between my teeth that I can’t clear by brushing or simply wedging out with my tongue.

You’re right that the cost is minimal and the margins seem pretty high (I would expect that the unit production cost for the package you’ve described is lower than 15¢ by an order of magnitude), but I’m not sure whether that cost includes all of the overheads necessary to maintain and store all of the product in sanitary condition, nor the carrying cost for unsold units and WIP. (And it completely ignores costs due to drop-offs in consumer demands based on color, scent / taste, packaging and branding choices. There’s a lot of risk in “fashion”.)

Aside from all of the foregoing, it may not be entirely ethical to run a controlled experiment on the efficacy of dental floss by enjoining people from using it if you think that it actually helps to eliminate tooth decay. That is, as a medical experimenter, if you think that curtailing use to a control group would lead to decreased oral health, then how could you ethically participate in that experiment?

I’m not going to go broke buying either dental floss or bottles of Tabasco sauce.

If your biggest problem is paying $3.89 for 150 feet of floss or $1.27 for 50 feet. . . . meh.

The fancy dental floss just sucks. I had this discussion with my hygenist and she agreed. The cheap wax/string floss works best and is effective. The idea of not flossing makes me ill. Yes it fucking works and is beneficial. How massively irresponsible to report it’s not. Most people just don’t floss properly, that’s what can make it ineffective. Cavities and decay may not be helped but gum disease and even heart disease are thwarted by just flossing

My dentist says if you only had the choice to brush or floss he would say to floss. But he recommends doing both.

I, too, don’t find floss to be something to worry about, especially since it has so many uses beyond actually flossing one’s teeth.
I’ve used floss for emergency sail repairs, screen door repairs, general repairs for so many things! I have sliced cheese, meatloaf and bread with floss. I have laced shoes and braided wicks.
The whole list is too long, but I always have floss on hand.

@canidmajor Now I’m trying to think of slogans for floss; “the small string with a thousand uses!”

@canidmajor AKA Mcgyver.

Buy generic and get free samples from the dentist when you can.

The cost of tooth replacement (5k per tooth) may be partially offset by flossing. I see it as worth it, unless you want to have no teeth and then have the remaining teeth shifting around in your head.

Overpriced, sure—but extremely effective when combined with brushing and done daily. I know I sound like an ad for the ADA, but I know it removes debris between teeth that brushing alone simply can’t catch doesn’t catch and, if done correctly, helps prevent cavities and strenthen gums. I’ve been flossing for many years and have very few cavities for a guy my age.

Sure it’s not cheap. Not many branded dental dental products are. But I’d rather pay a few bucks on a preventitive like floss than many more bucks at my dentist’s office.

I stopped getting cavities as soon as I started flossing. Been doing it for the last few decade now.

Why the fuck would anyone not floss, gross.

My dentist, Donald Dump DDS, says you don’t have to floss all of your teeth, just the ones you want to keep.

Flossing is apparently a trending topic on Facebook right now. Who knew that Fluther had such a widespread influence?

That’s why I use an water / air flosser

Technically, @jca, if you have “no teeth”, then there isn’t much worry about “the remaining teeth shifting around in your head”. Or else you may need to have your head examined—literally.

@CWOTUS: Haha! Good catch!

Like @NerdyKeith, I use a water pik. I prefer it to flossing.

There’s no evidence that it works because no one has bothered to study it properly. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t work or that you should stop flossing your teeth.

So-called medical studies burst into the media every week, many of them suspect, at best, or dangerous, at worst. Some studies, such as the amusing Chocolate Diet of a few yeasr ago, are outright hoaxes. If you believe what’s publicized, everything that can be ingested or applied to the human body will cause either death or immortality.

People are loving this latest one because daily flossing is a nuisance, and because it’s fun to say “nyeh-nyeh” to unpleasant advice. Personally, I’ll continue to floss every night. Decades of observation and common sense tell me that flossing prevents gum disease and saves teeth. At the very least, flossing’s good for general hygiene. I won’t stop taking care of myself simply because some “study” wants to relieve me of that responsibility.

Did a little research into the studies in the last 24. Every single one I heard about refers to to efficacy of plaque removal, not a single one refers to the importance of actually clearing food particles from between your teeth so they don’t break down an cause more plaque and other issues.
Maybe floss doesn’t actually remove existing plaque, but it sure as hell helps protect your teeth and gums from the effects of letting stuff sit and rot in there.