Is flossing a waste of time?

Well time now to comment on that old adage never let the truth get in the way of a good headline.  Anyone seeing me or the team at Craigentinny will know that we recommended using something to clean in between your teeth at least once a day.
Our hygienists will not miss an opportunity to tell you that brushing alone won’t reach every part of your mouth……

So you can imagine how delighted we were to see articles like this one on the Daily Mail  

To save you clicking the link here is the headline

Flossing is a waste of time! We all hate doing it. Now some experts are saying it has little impact on reducing tooth decay

So what’s the real story, have we been talking rubbish for years?   and have experts finally unearthed the secrets of dental hygiene that we have  all failed to spot?

We genuinely  don’t think so and here is why,

1. we know that if you have enough space to get brushes in then they will clean more effectively than floss

2. if you don’t have enough space for brushes then floss will at least remove food debris ( on which bacteria feed ) and some of the plaque

3. the studies so far may fail to provide the concrete statistical evidence that shows that flossing  works  but this does not automatically mean that it doesn’t.

4. The vast majority of dentists and hygienists up and down the country report that when a patient starts to floss they see less bleeding from that persons gums.

5. given the choice of a part of me that bleeds or does not, i prefer the latter

Remember that science represents “best current knowledge” For example 20  years ago we were told that electric toothbrushes had no evidence to support them as being better than manual toothbrushes….It took many years for the studies to catch up with the day to day experiences of dental hygienists who knew that they were seeing better results from patients  using electric brushes…….  despite ” science” telling them otherwise.

So our conclusion – please please don’t give up cleaning between your teeth  just yet no matter what method you use something is far better than nothing!