Is Flossing BS?

As one of the few people who have watched a video on Discovery News (I was surprised by how many have 0 views - Is it Anthony's voice?), their video for Oct 15, Flossing if BS!, of course got my attention.
The gist of the video is that various studies have failed to show that flossing makes much of a difference in the long term health of your mouth.
Another item that's included is the assertion that "professional" flossing was effective compared to the flossing routines of children.
Where to begin?
A few years ago, this matter caught my attention after I heard it being discussed among a group of dental public health professionals.
The claim that "professional" flossing was effective particularly interested me.  What is a professional flosser?  What tricks do they know that other mere flossing mortals can't aspire to?
It turns out that the claim about "professional" flossers was applied to a few mothers who were given simple flossing instructions in order to floss kids teeth daily in a school study.  The kids who didn't get flossed by the Mom's didn't do so well in comparison - is it possible kids who don't floss sometimes say they do? The study showed flossing worked and kids probably don't floss or floss well enough to compare with an adult.  There isn't a good study involving adults that's really shown whether flossing decreases cavities or gum disease.  But, keep in mind, it's hard to show an effect on things like decay that happen slowly and may be affected by a number of things like diet and tooth health.
Anthony, you and your video crew, may have missed a lot of info, but I've seen people with a lot more special training (and better voices), miss out on the same stuff.
If you want more details about this topic, and a fuller explanation of the problems with showing that flossing makes a difference in the long term health of your mouth, please check out this "White Paper" we posted in 2011 to explain the story.
Meanwhile, keep in mind what Anthony commented on in his video, if you want a mouth that's not really clean, don't floss.  Whether or not flossing will pay off long term, you know it cleans better than brushing alone.  That's something even monkeys have figured out!

It's National Flossing Day!

You may have heard about National Flossing Day in the news. It's always the day after Thanksgiving here in the US.

Since Thanksgiving is a day of feasting, what better day to remember flossing than today?  Here's the 2011 Proclamation that talks about the sense behind our holiday.

Have you ever played the game called "Rumors?"  (Some people call it "Telephone.")  - One person writes down a sentence and whispers it to a friend, then that person whispers it to another, until everyone has heard it.  The last person writes down what they heard and that's compared with the original.  The changes and distortions can be hilarious.  If you read the White Paper that is part of this years National Flossing Day, you'll learn how even doctors and dentists sometimes accidentally play the same game.

The title of the White Paper is "Spinning Floss Facts Into Fictions".  It explains some flossing research that gave proof flossing reduced cavities, but it mostly explains how the flossing in that study that was done by moms with a little simple training has come to be commonly described in scientific articles as "professional" flossing.  Based on this "rumor",  journal articles for dentists are saying "only professional flossing has been shown to reduce cavities." The White Paper hopes to make it clear that flossing has been tested and shown to reduce cavities, but you don't have to wait for a "professional" to floss you.  Your own daily flossing will do just fine!

Happy Flossing Day!  Floss on!