By Dr. Robert Kelly, D.M.D. General Dentist, McKenzie Dental
About 10 years ago there was a study in England that searched historic dental literature to find the evidence that flossing was beneficial. It turned out there was really not a lot of research that had been done on flossing. And while logically it was always assumed that removing bacteria from between your teeth could help prevent cavities and periodontal disease, it turns out nobody really studied it very well.
Anecdotally, in the dental office it was pretty obvious to dental care providers like dentists and dental hygienists that patients who flossed often had better outcomes than those patients who did not.
What surprised me even more though was not the outcome of the study, but the way it was publicized. It’s not too hard to imagine how this would happen, because if research dollars are having to be allocated within a tight budget, I would think cancer, degenerative diseases, or more serious diseases would likely be studied ahead of flossing. I’m a dentist, and I love teeth, but even I can admit that studying flossing would not be super high up on that list.
What really surprised me was how the news was delivered to the public. “Here’s how you wasted 730 minutes last year,” Time magazine wrote. The Guardian wrote “Dentists have stopped being strung along by the great flossing yarn. About time.” Ouch! I like the one from CBS News that was short and sweet: “A Big Problem With Flossing.” And finally a British newspaper, The Independent: “Flossing Your Teeth Does Not Work and Could Be a Waste of Your Time.”
I think what was lost in the whole drama was that there really wasn’t a lot of evidence that flossing was bad or didn’t help; it was just that there weren’t a lot of high-quality peer reviewed flossing studies to begin with – so it was hard to say one way or another without evidence.
Recently, however, the American Heart Association came out with the results from a preliminary study that found that regular flossing could reduce the risk of stroke or irregular heartbeats. The study involved 6000 participants and spanned a 25-year follow up. The analysis found that the people who were flossing regularly had a 22% lower risk of ischemic stroke, a 44% lower risk of cardioembolic stroke, and a 12% lower risk of AFib. These lower risks were found within the flossing population no matter what their brushing habits or dental visits were like. The study also found that flossing was associated with fewer cavities and a lower risk of periodontal disease. The limitation of the study was that it relied on self-reporting data.
It’s a pretty decent study, but fast forward to today and there still hasn’t been a good long-term quality study on flossing that has grabbed the headlines like the original one 10 years ago. But when it does happen in the future, whether it says once and for all floss or don’t floss, I’ll make sure and keep you all posted! Until then, I plan to keep on reaching for the floss every night.