For decades, dentists have been urging patients to floss more.
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The federal government, dental organizations and manufacturers of floss have pushed the practice for decades, saying flossing is an essential part of taking care of your teeth and gums. The AP says that when pressed spokesmen for the dental association have admitted that the evidence supporting flossing is weak, and one spokesman called Matthew J. Messina blamed study participants for not flossing correctly.
After a long day of tonguing a jagged piece of kale stuck between your back two molars, there’s nothing more satisfying than getting home, jamming floss back there, and airlifting it out. By law, these guidelines must be based on scientific evidence.
After years of judgment from dentists and abandoned New Year’s resolutions, we may now say without shame: “No, I don’t floss”. But previous year the Associated Press requested evidence on flossing based on scientific evidence.
And since 1979, the US government has recommended flossing, first in a surgeon general’s report and then in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans released every five years.
According to AP, the federal government has never really studied flossing, even though research is required for flossing to be one of the guidelines.
They found: “The evidence for flossing is “weak, very unreliable, ‘ of “very low” quality, and carries ‘a moderate to large potential for bias.'” nearly as salacious!”
The studies found the evidence for flossing was “weak” and “very unreliable”.
In essence, all the studies done to this point have shown little evidence that that flossing is demonstrating an ability to be effective in removing plaque.
Other studies only looked at oral health over shorter periods of time, such as two weeks, which is not enough time for cavities or gum disease to develop. I think that it’s a non-scientifically proven method of there’s no proof that it does not.
To give our practitioners some credit for making us floss, a 2011 review found flossing slightly reduced gum inflammation, which over time, could turn into gum disease. It says the federal government has never researched how well it works. One tested 25 people after only a single use of floss.
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Berguson said he will still recommend flossing to his patients. You should be moving the floss up and down the sides of the teeth instead of in a sawing motion.
