
Why You Should Never Skip Flossing Your Teeth - raymondduke
http://www.raymondduke.com/2013/01/why-you-should-never-skip-flossing-your.html#.UP68Hyc7Z8E
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w0utert
FTA: _Just recently I decided that I would give myself another dental check
up. I seemed to have forgotten my horse racing lesson because I was expecting
to have perfect teeth, again. I didn’t. I was given a bill that would be the
equivalent of buying a decent used car. Ugh. Could I have prevented this? Yes,
I could have. If only I had been flossing my teeth two times a day, I would
have had less problems._

My personal anecdote: last time when I went to the dentist, for the first time
in ~10 years, because a tiny bit of a tooth broke off while trying to strip a
piece of wire with my mouth (yes I know that's bad), I expected my teeth to be
in horrible shape. Dentist fixed my tooth and did a full check-up including
X-rays, and as it turns out, my teeth where in near-perfect condition, no
cavities or other bad spots, just some dental plaque that needed to be
removed. I haven't flossed a single time in my 30+ years long life.

Moral of the story: flossing probably has nothing to do with dental health, as
long as you brush your teeth and don't eat a lot of sugar.

~~~
lucian1900
Actual moral is probably that some people have better teeth than others.

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kposehn
I guess the molar of the story is clear.

~~~
raymondduke
Great comment!

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teuobk
Interestingly, there haven't been many (any?) studies looking at the efficacy
of flossing for prevention of carries (cavities). What evidence is available
suggests that flossing can reduce gingivitis (gum disease).

Relevant Cochrane review: [http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD008829/flossing-to-
reduce-gu...](http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD008829/flossing-to-reduce-gum-
disease-and-tooth-decay)

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mistercow
While the current consensus among American dentists is that flossing helps
prevent cavities, this (like what seems to be a frightening amount of what
dentists believe about dentistry) is not actually founded on or backed up by
scientific evidence. There is slightly stronger evidence that flossing helps
against gingivitis (<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22161438>).

As for dentists handing you a bill that would pay for a used car? There's an
easy fix for that: ignore most of what they tell you, and get things fixed
if/when they hurt. When the dentist has you sign a consent form that says
"dentistry is not an exact science", take heed.

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gambiting
What is this "flossing" he is talking about? Nobody I know flosses their
teeth, is brushing and then using mouthwash twice a day not enough?

Also, having a public health care helps with the bills, I go for a check-up
every year and never had any serious problems.

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nollidge
Where are you located? Every dentist in the U.S. will scold their patients for
not flossing.

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pygy_
AFAIK, it is not promoted in Europe.

We're encouraged to brush after each meal, though, using fluorinated
toothpaste.

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norswap
In Europe (at least the parts I'm used to), many dentist don't even actively
recommend flossing to their patients. Some do, but they're in a minority. The
other will say it's good if you ask them, but won't try to get you to do it
unless you have a specific affliction for which it is especially indicated.

~~~
riffraff
adding (possibly) a couple datapoints, it's the same for my home country
(italy) and where I live (hungary). Sometimes they suggest you floss, mostly
they don't.

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pygy_
The same goes for France and Belgium.

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bmurphy1976
I hate flossing. My teeth are packed tightly together. Getting the floss
between them is tough so I tend not to do it I have to.

I recently picked up a waterpik off of Amazon for about $40. It's essentially
a water pressure based flossing system. I love it! It's easy to use and gets
those spaces that are hard to reach with floss.

If you struggle with flossing like me, I recommend taking a look. I've been
very happy with the results so far.

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at-fates-hands
I went through a bout with severe Periodontitis.

Just in case: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodontitis> "Periodontitis
involves progressive loss of the alveolar bone around the teeth, and if left
untreated, can lead to the loosening and subsequent loss of teeth."

My case was pretty severe. Mainly from drinking WAY too much pop and not
brushing and flossing on a regular basis. It is true flossing helps your gums
in a lot of ways and considering they're the main support structure for your
teeth, you really should take care of them.

And even if there isn't any scientific data showing dental care and other
diseases aren't related, shouldn't you just error on the safe side anyways?

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tokenadult
An HN thread from eighteen days ago on flossing and dental care in general

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5007968>

accumulated a lot of interesting comments after I last checked it soon after
it was posted. Going back to those comments now is food for thought as I read
this thread. I'm trying out some of the ideas that come from the article that
opened the previous thread, for example by changing which mouth rinse I use
daily. I still floss daily, and have for years, and since I began doing that
(in adult life), my dentists have generally reported that my teeth are now in
better condition than they were before I started that habit.

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beagle3
Nutrition has a significant role in teeth health that is completely ignored by
dentists. Apparently, vitamin D and vitamin K2 can do more for you teeth than
regular brushing, provided that you don't keep your mouth sugared for too
long: see e.g. <http://www.westonaprice.org/journal/journal-spring-2007>

And a pre-emptive answer to all those who will say Weston Price was a quack:
No, he wasn't. Ignore the soundbites, read his studies, and modern follow-ups.

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stcredzero
A coworker of mine from way back had a dentist who put it this way: It's
simple. You just have to floss between the teeth you want to keep.

Flossing twice a day? I thought I was awesome for once a day.

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jakejake
My dentist gives me a guilt trip about flossing on every visit. I've always
thought that was a bit odd because it would be in his best business interest
for me to neglect my teeth.

~~~
T-hawk
He's a professional. He genuinely cares about your dental health. Most medical
doctors enter the profession because they genuinely want to help people, not
exploit them for bucks. And prevention is very often the best method of help.

Compare him to the programmer who creates an extensible open framework, as
opposed to the guy who throws together a dense hack that only he understands.
The latter could be said to be acting more in his own interest, but the former
is more dedicated to his profession and the greater good.

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epoxyhockey
The article draws an analogy between flossing teeth regularly and staying on
top of your game, in general.

I'm not a fan of the analogy in this case, but the tl;dr is: _don't rest on
your laurels_ when you're #1 at something. Reference:
<http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/rest+on+laurels>

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mladenkovacevic
Apparently, flossing also helps to prevent heart disease. Perhaps that's just
some unfounded pseudo-science being pushed by the floss-manufacturers but in
any case I imagine it can't be bad for you. Twice a day might be a little
overkill, though.

~~~
Ives
It's real science. Bacteria in your mouth can enter the bloodstream through
wounds and travel to your heart.

//EDIT: Apparently, although the association between gum disease and heart
disease seems to be science, the causal link is not.

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cma
What about wounds caused by flossing irregularly?

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euroclydon
Seriously, and flossing undoubtedly pushes some food particles beneath the gum
line.

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pclark
I floss all the time because it feels amazing

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dgunn
Am I still on HN?

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riffraff
yes and not hellbanned AFAICT.

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dgunn
Nope. Just your standard flossing tips on HN. Nothing out of the ordinary
here...

