Dental Floss May Have No Medical Benefits, Says AP Report (gizmodo.com)

Joe_NoOne quotes a report from Gizmodo: Flossing may not yield the protective benefits we've been told to expect. Since 1979, the federal government in the U.S. has recommended daily flossing, but by law these dietary guidelines, which are updated every five years, have to be supported by scientific evidence. Surprisingly -- and without any notice -- the federal government dropped flossing from its dietary guidelines this year, telling the Associated Press that "the government acknowledged the effectiveness of flossing had never been researched, as required." AP national writer Jeff Donn reports: "The two leading professional groups -- the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Periodontology, for specialists in gum disease and implants -- cited other studies as proof of their claims that flossing prevents buildup of gunk known as plaque, early gum inflammation called gingivitis, and tooth decay. However, most of these studies used outdated methods or tested few people. Some lasted only two weeks, far too brief for a cavity or dental disease to develop. One tested 25 people after only a single use of floss. Such research, like the reviewed studies, focused on warning signs like bleeding and inflammation, barely dealing with gum disease or cavities. Wayne Aldredge, president of the periodontists' group, acknowledged the weak scientific evidence and the brief duration of many studies...Still, he urges his patients to floss to help avoid gum disease. 'It's like building a house and not painting two sides of it,' he said. 'Ultimately those two sides are going to rot away quicker.'"

Comments

The house analogy sucks

[fustakrakich]

Mine has aluminum siding.

Re:The house analogy sucks

[I'm New Around Here]

So do some of my teeth.

Floss

[31415926535897]

I have lots of experience over the years, (with me), and I've done it every way.

Floss. That's all there is to it. You will have trouble with your gums and with cavities if you don't.

You don't have to floss every day. Once a week is enough. Your dentist won't even be able to tell the difference.

Re:Floss

[Anonymous Coward]

Pretty much this, though I now floss every day. (And I live somewhere where it's not usual.)
In fact, I'd recommend flossing only over brushing only.

I've had a lot of gum and tooth issues at once, and it always was between the teeth. Turns out, the gaps between my teeth got bigger and I had a lot of shit getting stuck there. Now that Ifloss, I haven't had any new issues, but there's some permanent damage.

Anyway, when I remove something that was stuck between my teeth I instantly feel much better.

Re: Floss

[Defakto]

This isn't necessarily true. I had a similar conversation with my dentist. He had one client who was a religious floss we and brusher, they have terrible teeth. Multiple root canals, at least 12 fillings. Then there's me. I rarely floss unless I can tell something is stuck, then I do to get it out. The strength of your teeth is mainly genetic and environment. Sadly my son has his mother's teeth and already has problems.

Re:Floss

[jomama717]

I don't care if there is no evidence of medical benefit, or correlation with cavities/gum disease - those things are intangible. Flossing teeth after just 2-3 days of NOT flossing produces so much gross tangible stuff from between the teeth I still feel a lot better after doing it, no matter what.

I'm going to guess there is no evidence of medical benefit to applying deodorant every day, but FFS please do.

Re:Floss

[Anonymous Coward]

Whether or not one gets cavities depends heavily upon diet. Cavities are caused by excess carbohydrates, starches and other simple sugars left behind in the mouth after meals. Normally, the populations of bacteria in the mouth are not concentrated enough in any one spot for a long enough period of time to produce enough acid on a regular basis to cause decay of tooth enamel. However, consumption of carbohydrates and the formation of sticky plaques on the teeth provides the perfect growth medium for these bacteria, promoting a population explosion and the associated waste products (acids) that cause tooth decay and eventually cavities. With a diet rich in high fructose corn syrup and massive quantities of carbs and simple sugars, most Americans are at high risk of developing cavities and have mouths full of them. In my experience, it would be very unusual for a 40 year old, even one who brushes regularly but never flosses, to have never had cavities. You might want to go for a second opinion and independent x-rays, just to be sure. Otherwise your first indication that you do have cavities might be moderate to severe pain and by that point you may need a root canal to save the tooth. Most dental insurance covers x-rays and even if you don't have dental insurance it's worth a few hundred bucks every few years to have them done, just to be sure.

Re: Floss

[NotAPK]

It's a big read but Africa has always had lower rates of caries than other developing nations. However, as my link outlines, this varies regionally within Africa.

The currently accepted wisdom is that Africans have a better genetic predisposition to tooth decay. Locals can grow up on a diet of wild meat and grains, never brush in their life, and have rather stunningly perfect teeth. Here is an article on the genetics of teeth.

This link is not about teeth, but there is a lot about diet that we don't understand.

Rotting Meat

[labnet]

Fine, don't floss:
but when you have a conversation with me, and you a piece of rotting meat stuck in your mouth for days on end, I'm taking 10 paces back.

Re:Rotting Meat

[ADRA]

Yes, there's a good distinction between social etiquetteand a medical association telling us that its good to do so. The government also doesn't say to stand more than a foot or two from someone when you're talking to them, but that's also good etiquette.

Mental Breakdown

[dohzer]

Did they study what happens if you have a little bit of orange gunk stuck between your teeth and would have a breakdown if you couldn't use floss to remove it?

How to floss regularly

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Floss
2. Smell used floss
3. Be totally grossed out.
4. Floss forever.

Story is a beat up. They didn't say it makes no difference. They just said the research supporting it was old and had poor methodology, possibly because "Big Floss" didn't think "floss research" was worth throwing money at and people have been doing it anyway because it's common sense.

So another clickbait headline which will have AP's media customers rubbing their hands with glee, but misleading and many people will take away the wrong conclusion.

Evidence based medicine

[phantomfive]

Not everything we know comes from randomized, large-scale trials. There are other ways to gain knowledge. This link shows why randomized, large-scale trials are not always the best idea.

Re:I say bullshit

[Anonymous Coward]

They didn't say "flossing is useless". They said flossing hasn't been studied properly, so by law, they are not allowed to put it in the official guidelines.

Denal Floss Tycoon

[Required Snark]

Lyrics by Frank Zappa.

I might be movin' to Montana soon

Just to raise me up a crop of Dental Floss

Raisin' it up

Waxin' it down

In a little white box that

I can sell uptown

By myself I wouldn't

Have no boss,

But I'd be raisin' my lonely Dental Floss

Raisin' my lonely Dental Floss

wrong headline

[prefec2]

So the true story is that the claim has not been prooven. This makes the claim not false, it makes it untested and unverified. As the claim still can be tested , it is not a believe. So the ball lies now in the corner of dental floss researchers to evaluate the effect in a real study.

FLOSS

[MancunianMaskMan]

Wot no gnu logo here? https://www.gnu.org/philosophy...

Oh /. where art thou!

Always thought of flossing to be an American thing

[Deaddy]

Here in Germany flossing is quite uncommon and I know only few persons that even own floss. Dentists also never seem to mention it. However, I do not know how dental health here compares to the one in the US and assume that other factors play a much bigger role then.

Re:Typical

[radio4fan]

British dental health is much better than in the US.

British Teeth Aren’t That Bad (American Teeth Are Far Worse)

Which countries' children have the worst teeth?

Re: Coffe and Nicotine

[dwillden]

Director Comey lied and covered for her. Intent is NOT a requirement for failure to protect and mishandling of classified information. Failing to stop classified information from going out over her unclassified civilian internet server is a Felony. Being to stupid to realize that classified information does not go on an unclassified system is a felony, neither has any intent requirement. Both are 10 years per count. Comey stated flat out that there were over 100 emails that had information that was classified at the time it was sent. That is over 100 counts on both charges. No intent needed.

Any prosecutor not trying to cover her would have jumped at the chance to indict. People have gone to jail for a single email, let alone more than 100.

Trump did not call for foreign intervention, he joked that Russia should find the 30,000 missing emails among all the other stuff they'd hacked years ago when she was the Sec State.

Re: CoffeE and Nicotine

[dwillden]

Mishandling Classified information most certainly is a crime. Espionage act, USC Title 18 para 739 (f). Nothing left or right wing about it. It's there in the code. Putting classified information on an unclassified network (civilian or government) is a crime. Sending that information via that unclassified network is a crime. I've had a clearance for over 20 years. I put classified information into an email not on the physically separate classified networks (which were not hacked) even once and I go to jail, not to the Whitehouse.

Re: CoffeE and Nicotine

[dwillden]

It wasn't my CO instilling fear, it was on the job experience and expertese. I was an Army Counterintelligence Agent (MOS 97B then 35L). I investigated such crimes, yes people did get off with lesser punishment but they were brought up on the actual crimes with the potential penalties. Military Lawyers and Judges like plea deals just as much as civilian courts do. I'm not saying she needs to go to jail for 10 years x 100+ classified emails. But she should have been indicted. The crimes are real, and they do not require intent. The law as applied is that you mishandle classified information, you face charges.

Let her be indicted and defend herself, if she can plea out to jay-walking fine. But she needs to face the charges for the crimes she committed. And I'm speaking from experience not misunderstanding.

Re:Typical

[AmiMoJo]

Health wise we do better, but until fairly recently people tend not to worry too much about the cosmetic aspect so their teeth look bad.

I had a brace for some fairly serious overcrowding when I was a child, but once the problem was fixed they lost interest in neatening everything up. I'm kinda tempted to pay to get them fixed now that those invisible braces are available. It's not so much the looks as the getting food suck in them all the bloody time.

Also, I wish my wisdom teeth would stop trying to kill me. Intelligent design my arse.

Re:Always thought of flossing to be an American th

[Grishnakh]

Try the "Glide" floss. I have tight contacts too in places which will tear regular floss apart, but the Glide stuff works much better.

I never floss...

[smithmc]

...and every six months when I go the dentist for a checkup and cleaning, they tell me "whatever you're doing, keep it up!". So I keep not flossing...