Flossing could be a complete waste of time, admit dentists
We spend over 730 minutes a year flossing our teeth
FROM a young age we’ve been told to floss daily in order to ward off gum disease.
But new research has found that this laborious task – it takes us over 730 minutes a year to do - could be a complete waste of time.
An eye-opening study by the Associated Press (AP) has revealed the benefits of dental flossing are largely unproven.
The US government has dropped daily flossing from its recommended dietary guidelines saying they have “acknowledged the effectiveness of flossing has never been researched, as required”.
This is pretty monumental considering the flossing industry is expected to hit a whopping £74m next year.
The AP examined 25 studies from the past decade that compared brushing alone to brushing and flossing.
They concluded the evidence for flossing is “weak", "very unreliable”, of “very low” quality and “carries a moderate to large potential for bias”.
Researchers claimed part of the problem is that people don’t floss correctly.
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Instead of moving in a sawing back-and-forth motion, experts say we should be moving it up and down the sides of our teeth.
But the AP also found that manufacturers of dental floss are struggling to provide convincing evidence.
Procter & Gamble claimed that flossing fights plaque and gingivitis, but its “proof” for this claim came from a two-week study that was deemed irrelevant in 2011 during a research review.
Johnson & Johnson told the AP that floss helps remove plaque, but when the company was sent a list of contradicting studies, its spokesperson declined to comment.
So it’s time to ditch the floss, right? Not quite...
A dentist with the National Institutes of Health said it may eventually be appropriate to drop the floss guidelines, but only after more rigorous research is done.
Until then, he advises that people should still floss, saying. “It’s low risk, low cost,” and adding “We know there’s a possibility that it works, so we feel comfortable telling people to go ahead and do it.”