I always get told off by the dentist for not flossing regularly (like everyday!). Do my fellow bargainers floss everyday? Did you notice a dramatic difference in your teeth's health?
What about brushing your teeth? How often do you do it? (1x, 2x, 3x, etc. per day?).
I was going to include a poll but then I remembered robotdad lurking under the murky waters :)
On the serious note, do you floss/brush everyday?
Robotdad + water murky = Robotdad noworky…..
Sure I will answer. I brush ever day, and twice a day at least half the week. I floss once a week or when I am in need of debris removal.
I had several decades of filling-free teeth. I put the success down to fluoride from when my tooth-buds were forming in the womb , and onwards. I was casual as, in brushing frequency for at least the first 25 years.
Over the last 5 years I have dramatically increased my pepsi max consumption, which resulted in tooth erosion along the gum line. I have had to switch to a sensitive (nitrate) toothpaste and restorative products.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD008829…
Twelve trials were included in this review, with a total of 582 participants in flossing plus toothbrushing (intervention) groups and 501 participants in toothbrushing (control) groups. All included trials reported the outcomes of plaque and gingivitis. Seven of the included trials were assessed as at unclear risk of bias and five were at high risk of bias.
Flossing plus toothbrushing showed a statistically significant benefit compared to toothbrushing in reducing gingivitis at the three time points studied, the SMD being -0.36 (95% CI -0.66 to -0.05) at 1 month, SMD -0.41 (95% CI -0.68 to -0.14) at 3 months and SMD -0.72 (95% CI -1.09 to -0.35) at 6 months. The 1-month estimate translates to a 0.13 point reduction on a 0 to 3 point scale for Loe-Silness gingivitis index, and the 3 and 6 month results translate to 0.20 and 0.09 reductions on the same scale.
Overall there is weak, very unreliable evidence which suggests that flossing plus toothbrushing may be associated with a small reduction in plaque at 1 or 3 months.
None of the included trials reported data for the outcomes of caries, calculus, clinical attachment loss, or quality of life. There was some inconsistent reporting of adverse effects.
Authors' conclusions
There is some evidence from twelve studies that flossing in addition to toothbrushing reduces gingivitis compared to toothbrushing alone. There is weak, very unreliable evidence from 10 studies that flossing plus toothbrushing may be associated with a small reduction in plaque at 1 and 3 months. No studies reported the effectiveness of flossing plus toothbrushing for preventing dental caries.
I floss every day (never used to until a few years ago)
Haven't noticed a big difference personally. I don't seem to get anything stuck in between my teeth, so there's nothing to dislodge as such lol. For me, it's more of a psychological 'dependence'/addiction… feels good afterwards, knowing I've brushed and flossed everything. But I do have obsessive clean-freak tendencies so it makes sense lol. I think it really depends on each person - what you eat, whether your teeth sit in a way that allows more food to get stuck in between etc. I don't eat much meat at all, but when I do, I notice a good flossing picks up some, uh, leftovers lol. Those who eat lots of processed foods would probably benefit from flossing too. My diet is mostly fruit and veg with some grains… but after a night out eating junk, same with the meat example, I find that flossing makes my teeth feel cleaner.
I brush twice a day. Can't handle doing it any less frequently. Hate that fuzzy teeth feeling.
I knew someone who rarely brushed (like once a day if that), ate pretty well too, and never flossed. His teeth were manky, man. Plaque city. He also got toothaches now and then and had sensitive teeth.
The only thing I don't do is use mouthwash. Tried it, didn't find any benefit. Just made my eyes water and mouth numb.
I think it depends on your structure.
If your teeth are very uniform, and tightly packed comfortably, you probably don't need to floss.
But if you have gaps and teeth sides that are hard to brush you probably need to floss.
When flossing it creates gaps in your teeth, room for things to get stuck in, created edges for plague to grow.
I remember a woman a few years ago, who hadn't been to the dentist in over 10 years… was getting married and was taking the plunge. She had no issues, her dentist said that her teeth were perfect, tightly packed.
Closer they are together, the more you have to floss actually. It's all about whether or not a toothbrush can get to the bacteria growing in between teeth. If you don't remove it with floss, then holes will form.
Floss doesn't actually create holes between teeth, what it does is temporarily push down the pink triangle of tissue between your teeth. It also removes plaque there, which makes it feel like there is a gap between your teeth now.
Starchy foods and junk food tend to get stuck easily. If you've just polished off a whole bag of banana chips, you'll get what I mean — the banana gets stuck in the corners of your month, in your molars, between the teeth and no amount of tongueplay will get the starch out.
That's when you might need to floss. But otherwise rigourous brushing takes care of most things if you ate normal foods.
But you should go to the dentist every half year and get some plaque cleaned off, especially if you don't floss. Most people do need descaling at least once a year.
I recall hearing Dr Karl Kruszynski say something like "you don't need to floss all your teeth, only the ones that you want to keep".
The evidence of flossing benefits is surprisingly scant:
"Flossing in addition to toothbrushing can reduce gingivitis and halitosis compared to toothbrushing alone. There is weak evidence that flossing plus toothbrushing may help to reduce plaque buildup relative to toothbrushing alone.[1]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_floss
Sambunjak, D.; Nickerson, J. W.; Poklepovic, T.; Johnson, T. M.; Imai, P.; Tugwell, P.; Worthington, H. V. (2011). "Flossing for the management of periodontal diseases and dental caries in adults". In Johnson, Trevor M. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Again with the strange questions [ https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/138015 ]……
How often do you scratch your rear?