Only between 10 and 40 percent of Americans floss their teeth on a regular basis, and – despite the message dentists and hygienists have been pushing for decades that flossing is a crux of oral health – that’s just fine. Says who? Science.
A recent Forbes.com article states, “While hundreds of flossing studies have been conducted, many are plagued by potential issues of researcher bias, as well as poor experimental design. In the past decade, three systematic reviews sought to navigate these muddy waters.” The author goes on to detail the three studies that all came to conclude flossing’s impact has been largely miscalculated.
Overall, the author suggests, based on current scientific research, flossing really isn’t all it’s cracked out to be. He concludes that “one plausible explanation for the dearth of supporting evidence for flossing is that we’re all doing it incorrectly. Most flossers simply insert the string in between their teeth, yank out a few bits of food, and assume they’re done. They’re not. The American Dental Association recommends curving the floss into a “C” shape against the side of every tooth and firmly, but carefully, motioning it up and down.”
What do you think? Is flossing as big of a deal as the oral health industry has traditionally made it out to be?
Read the full article at Forbes.com here.