The Associated Press (AP) came out with a report earlier this week stating there are no proven benefits to flossing. Working in dentistry,The AP also stated that the departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture said that the effectiveness of floss had never been researched.
Let’s first clear up one thing regarding there being no studies that show the benefits of flossing. This is patently false. Just one example is a 2006 study titled “Dental Flossing and Interproximal Caries: a System Review.” The results of this study were clear. Those who were flossed professionally five days a week had a 40 percent decreased risk of caries. Being flossed professionally every three months and flossing at home showed no decrease in risk of caries.
The key here is being flossed professionally. In other words, those children in the study were being flossed correctly by a dental professional. Just because somebody flosses at home doesn’t mean they are doing it correctly. In fact, this study shows that when patients don’t know the proper techniques of flossing, they don’t get the benefits of it. It’s as simple as that. When somebody is flossed with the proper techniques, or “professionally” as this study calls it, the decreased risk of caries is clear. This is where the context of the studies mentioned by the AP is so important, yet negligently left out.
Now, as dental professionals, we have our work cut out for us, as if it wasn’t difficult enough already to educate and promote compliance with our patients. Patients will ask about what they saw or read on the news. Be prepared to explain the mouth/body link, the role of bacteria/biofilm which can lead to disease, and with options to disrupt and remove this bacteria.
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