from Hacker News

There's little proof flossing protects your teeth or gums (2016)

by Fervicus on 3/5/25, 3:35 AM with 24 comments

• by fnordpiglet on 3/5/25, 6:32 AM

  I don’t floss every day but I do floss and frequently dislodge food caught between teeth or whatever. No one will convince me that leaving it to rot inside my gums and teeth is good. At the very minimum, it’ll stink.

  I also occasionally develop a minor infection in my gums if I’ve not flossed in a while that flossing the area relieves. As a sample of one, it’s effective. If I do it it relieves the infection, if I don’t it doesn’t. Maybe my experiences don’t generalize but I suspect I’m not that rare of a human being. I generally have healthy teeth and gums, never have had cavities, and my dentist says she’s rarely seen healthier teeth especially at around 50. YMMV.

• by alpaca128 on 3/5/25, 8:38 AM

  > The majority of available studies fail to demonstrate that flossing is generally effective in plaque removal

  How about removing gunk left from eating? Anyone who did a bit of flossing knows it’s very effective at that.

  > One study review in 2011 did credit floss with a slight reduction in gum inflammation [..] A commentary in a dental magazine stated that any benefit would be so minute it might not be noticed by users.

  The benefit of brushing your teeth will also not be noticed immediately, it’s still a really good idea to do it. And as someone who didn’t floss for a long time but does now I am quite sure there are benefits. And my dentist can immediately tell.

• by pmdulaney on 3/5/25, 5:25 PM

  I truly think one will miss out on best health practices if he waits for proof. What does your own experience teach you? Besides, flossing is about more than teeth and gum health:

  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/19/inflam...

• by utf_8x on 3/5/25, 7:53 AM

  Bit off-topic but interestingly the title of the article is "There's little proof flossing protects your teeth or gums" but when you, for example, send the link to somebody over (insert your favorite instant messenger with link previews), the title in the preview changes to a much more clickbait-y "Is flossing a waste of time?"

• by porridgeraisin on 3/5/25, 10:32 AM

  After every meal, rinse your mouth as aggressively as is socially acceptable to do so wherever you are at the moment. Beats everything else.

• by jbverschoor on 3/5/25, 9:02 AM

  Just use proper toothpicks. It’s more important than floss

• by cluckindan on 3/5/25, 6:55 AM

  Just don’t use wax floss. The wax is usually PFAS.

• by chriscappuccio on 3/5/25, 6:01 AM

  I mean, yeah, OK, try not flossing...

• by Jean-Papoulos on 3/5/25, 7:19 AM

  I always get the feeling that flossing is big in the US and not in Europe because of food quality.