What evidence is there for the usefulness of flossing?

i dont know about any studies but doesn’t it just make sense that the stuff that gets stuck between your teeth, over time, can possibly cause problems? i know that i keep my teeth very clean, but even after i brush there is stuff in between my teeth. plus, i love flossing. personally when i floss my teeth look about 50x better. sorry this was not scientific but i’m a big fan of flossing and thought i’d throw in my 2 cents, lol

Yea, I have to scientific evidence either, but leaving plaque between your teeth is never a good idea.

NOT Flossing increases your risk for cancer and decreases your Real Age by as much as 6.4yrs.

BTW-There are plenty of scientific studies on the net to prove it protects your heart, gums, etc.

From someone with dental issues, especially in my gums… I can tell you from experience that if you don’t floss, plaque builds up and burrows itself into the gums as it needs more room. That creates pockets in the gums, and will cause bone loss. Also that bacteria in the pockets where the brush doesn’t reach causes gum disease, inflammation, soreness, and bleeding when you brush. Flossing at least some of that gunk and bacteria out helps keeps the gums nice and tight against the tooth, preventing crap from getting stuck in there.

Edit: over time, that will cause your gums to shrink and recede from your teeth, and your gums don’t regenerate like other tissue. If it persists, you will eventually lose the teeth.

You don’t need scientific evidence for something as simple as this. The bacteria on your teeth that cause cavities survive on eating your leftover food. If you don’t floss more food will stay behind in between your teeth and more bacteria will form around it. More bacteria equals faster decay of your teeth in that area, and thus cavities are born.

All I know is that when I floss, stuff comes out of my teeth that would have otherwise stayed had I only used a toothbrush. That’s all the evidence I need.

From Journal of Dental Research:

“A clinical study was designed to evaluate the effect of frequent interdental flossing on the incidence of proximal dental caries. School children from a fluoride-deficient area were studied after clinical and radiographic examinations. Each child had at least one contralateral pair of intact, contacting proximal tooth surfaces between the distal surface of the primary cuspid and the mesial surface of the first permanent molar. Randomly selected test surfaces were flossed each school day with unwaxed dental floss by researchers. The contralateral surfaces served as controls. Flossing was done for eight months, discontinued for four months, and reinstituted for another eight months. A significant reduction in the incidence of proximal caries resulted.”

I floss religiously every night. And during the day if i get something stuck between my teeth. My dentist told me once that he could just take one look in someone’s mouth & tell whether or not they flossed. I use Plackers.

@Janka are you questioning the risks of plaque accumulation or the effectiveness of flossing at preventing plaque buildup?

A review of flossing and interproximal caries by The Journal of Dental Research from 2006 found there is some evidence that flossing daily by dental professionals can reduce the risk of dental carries forming by 40% in children. However self performed flossing did not reduce the risk of carries forming. They found no research looking at flossing in adults.

Another review, this time in Evidence Based Dentistry (2009) found that inter dental brushes were more effective than flossing at reducing plaque.

If I worked in a floss factory, I would think it pretty “useful”.

Isn’t it common sense? When plague sits on your teeth they rot. Most toothbrushes cannot reach in between the teeth. For this reason plague sits in between your teeth and thus they rot. Unless you floss and remove that plague.

Or if plague is not the correct term it would be the food residue that creates plague.

Some might argue that mouthwash would do the trick but in fact most mouthwashes do not work that way. We did a study in science class back when I was in high school lol. Only one brand of mouthwash that we studied did more than freshen breath.

@RedPowerLady: Well really, when “plague” sits on your teeth, you die ;)

Such a funny thing that three of us already have mixed up “Plague” and “plaque”

There is good evidence that chronic plaque causes gum disease and that periodontal disease is associated with heart disease as well as preterm labor due to the inflammatory proteins that circulate in the bloodstream.

If you’d like to do your own research on how effective your brushing and flossing is in removing plaque, try an at-home plaque detection test like this

@MagsRags There’s this mouthwash, too

@poofandmook Crap you caught a spelling error. Okay My Bad. I can’t edit now as it is too late.

@RedPowerLady: No, I think it’s more than a spelling error. Between the two threads that discuss flossing, three of us made the same mistake. It’s some weird word association thing.

@poofandmook That is pretty funny :)

So, @RedPowerLady, which mouthwash was it?

@Supacase It probably won’t be a surprise but it was Listerine. The other leading mouthwash, scope, did nothing. There is one more mouthwash that worked too that is mostly used in dental offices but I can’t remember it’s name now, I believe it is commercially available just not popular. What I wonder is does the new no-alcohol Listerine work (i saw a commercial for this type). I’d like someone to re-test it, hehe

I have Target brand Listerine, and that shit BURNS. It has to be doing something other than freshening breath… it burns the first layer of skin off the inside of my mouth! lol

@poofandmook Yep Listerine is the one brand that did work.

@Cupcake @Lightlyseared Thanks for the references! You guys are awesome.

To all the people who questioned if you “need evidence for something that is common sense”, it was once common sense that of course it makes sense to bleed people with high fevers, and that the Sun orbits the Earth, and such things.

I do not really question about flossing, though. I am undecided—on one hand, it is widely recommended and it does make sense, on the other it seems to be a bit of a cultural thing (much more common in the US than in Finland, say) without immediately noticeable effect and I am not sure if the common sense about the added benefit to regularly brushing really makes sense after all.

In my world, how you explore such undecidedness (is that a word?) about common sense is science. I was too lazy to search for references myself, so I figured I’ll start asking Fluther.

I’ll try and remember to post an overview of those articles linked after I have read them.

@Janka I always thought it was a US cultural thing too (like circumcisions), but I recently switched dentists and so far both of them advised me to floss (outside the US of A).

If you’re not convinced about the health benefits, you might find it useful to floss because of social benefits. If you have friends that don’t want to talk to you anymore and you don’t know why you might suffer from bad breath ;) Bad breath often starts with left over food residue and bacteria on the back of your tongue, so flossing is a good way to start getting that minty fresh breath back.

@markyy :D Thanks for the input on culture. I think the experience here too (now that I’ve asked a couple of more friends) seems to bet that dentists recommend it, it’s just it seems people don’t take it seriously. I am not looking for personal decision reasons, though, I was just curious about the evidence.