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Super Floss to the Rescue

What’s 18 inches long, costs only $7 a year, and is strong enough to have freed prisoners from their cells but submissive enough to wrap around your little finger? Give up? The dental floss you should be using every day! However, according to a survey by the American Dental Association (ADA), only about 49 percent of the U.S. population reports using this white wound wonder as often as they should. Dental floss is an ancient invention; researchers have found dental floss and toothpick grooves in the teeth of prehistoric humans. Levi Spear Parmly (1790-1859), a New Orleans dentist, is credited as being the inventor of modern dental floss (the term re-inventor may be more accurate). Parmly promoted teeth flossing with a piece of silk thread in 1815. In 1882, the Codman and Shurtleft Company of Randolph, Massachusetts started to mass-produce unwaxed silk floss for commercial home use. Johnson and Johnson Company of New Brunswick, New Jersey was the first to patent dental floss in 1898. Dr. Charles C. Bass developed nylon floss as a replacement for silk floss during WW II. Dr. Bass was responsible for making teeth flossing an important part of dental hygiene. There are plenty of good reasons to be a flossing fanatic: keeping your teeth, promoting fresh breath, and avoiding possible repercussions of periodontal disease such as increased risk of a heart disease or stroke. However, people find plenty of excuses to skip this simple 2-3 minute task. In hopes of encouraging flossing mania in your home, enjoy some of these flossing factoids:

• If you don’t floss, you miss cleaning about 30 percent of your teeth’s surfaces. Often, periodontal disease begins between teeth where your toothbrush can’t reach.
• Americans purchased more than 2.7 million miles of dental floss in 1996. However, if all Americans were flossing every day, more like 27 million miles of floss should have been used.
• Bleeding during flossing is not normal and not okay. If your hands bled when you washed them, would you overlook it? Bleeding is a sign of periodontal disease. If your gums bleed for more than a week after you begin flossing, improve your dental hygiene regimen and talk with your dentist, hygienist, or periodontist.
• Dental floss was first manufactured in 1882 and was made of silk.
• You’re never too young to floss. It’s most important to start flossing your kids’ teeth when the gaps between them close, but starting even before this helps establish the habit.
• There have been reports of prisoners who escaped after using dental floss to gradually saw through cell bars.
• Don’t flush the floss! Dental floss has been known to block sewers because it does not disintegrate and can wrap around roots, pumps, and others obstructions.

An Ounce of Floss is Worth a Pound of Prevention

Now that you’re committed to keeping your teeth and protecting your health, you’ll want to be sure to floss correctly:

• Choosing a floss: The dental aisle of your local drugstore offers an array of choices for dental floss. Look for one that is ADA accepted. After that, choosing a dental floss is mostly a matter of personal preference. Studies have found no difference between waxed and unwaxed, or tape, cord, nylon, and polymer floss as far as cleaning capacity. However, for people with tight spaces between teeth, a polymer floss may work best. Also, if a flavored floss makes flossing more enjoyable, choose that.
• Floss first? There is not a clear-cut answer on whether it is better to floss then brush, or brush then floss. However, flossing first may loosen plaque, which can then be brushed away with your toothbrush.
• Step-by-Step: Use a piece of floss about 18 inches long. Wind most of the floss around a middle finger of one hand and most of the rest around a middle finger on the opposite hand. Gently insert the floss between the teeth using a back and forth motion, guiding the floss with your forefingers. Guide the floss to the gumline and curve the floss into a c-shape. Slide it into the space between the gum and tooth until you feel light resistance. Repeat this process between every tooth. Don’t forget the back sides of your back teeth!
• If you don’t see food particles, don’t be disappointed. The primary function of dental floss is actually to remove the invisible film of bacteria that constantly forms between the teeth, causing plaque.
• Flossing options: For people with dexterity problems, power flossers or floss holders may be useful. Otherwise, regular floss works just as well and makes it easier to make the c-shape around your teeth.