A review of 12 randomized controlled trials published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews in 2011 found only “very unreliable” evidence that flossing might reduce plaque after one and three months.
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Iafolla wasn’t involved in drafting the dietary guidelines, but he’s well aware of some of the problems with flossing research. Still, he points out, tracking the long-term benefits of flossing isn’t cheap or easy.
There’s more on gum disease at the U.S. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. “So maybe we need some long-term studies”. Plaque buildup also can cause inflammation of the gums, or gingivitis, which left uncontrolled can lead to bone-destroying periodontitis.
Studies that have looked at the health effects of flossing seem poorly designed, too small, or improperly conducted, the AP reported.
She said: “Some people may not have large enough spaces in between their teeth to use an inter-dental brush, so flossing can be a useful alternative”.
And what research is out there suggests that flossing could even be doing more harm than good. This year, flossing disappeared from the guidelines.
The AP filed a Freedom of Information Act requesting evidence from the departments of Health and Human Services on the benefits of flossing.
Well, lucky for those who can’t keep promises to their dentist to rid the excess plaque from between our pearly whites, flossing has been found to be “weak” and “inconclusive”. The committee hasn’t ditched flossing entirely.
The move comes amid a debate over whether flossing actually works.
Wayne Aldredge, president of the American Academy of Periodontology, acknowledges the weak scientific evidence.
For decades, the manufacturers of dental floss, dental organizations, dentists, and the federal government have been pushing the practice of flossing at least once per day according to the AP. “So there is a taboo”.
“I know what comes off the floss because I grow it in the lab, and what’s coming off the floss is a lot of the bad bugs that infect your gums”, said Cutler. If it works for you and you are comfortable with it, by all means, proceed.
It makes a difference in your mouth, they say. After all isn’t our health up to us?.
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“The study is a result of poor research on the area of flossing because most people, when they floss, they use this up and down motion, and that’s not the way to floss”, Gary Klein of Klein Family Dentistry said.
