Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 184 posts

Re: Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

#131

Post by Vexs »

Personal antecedent is that I never flossed for 18 years, and would always walk out of the dentist with a bleeding gum somewhere in my mouth, and my teeth would hurt drinking cold water, etc, but when I finally started flossing all those problems evaporated.

Some mouths probably need it more than others, and it appears that mine is one of them. Is flossing the best option for inter-teeth cleaning? Maybe not. However, even after a good brush I can pull bits of food out by flossing, and I don't think anyone will disagree that it's a good thing to leave it in there.

Re: Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

#132

Post by greggman »

nextos wrote: post #65
mrweasel wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For years my oral hygienist kept telling me to a get an electric toothbrush. When I finally got one, I didn't tell her, but I never hear the "get an electric tooth brush" again. It was the same with flossing. When I started flossing I didn't say anything, and she hasn't commented that I need to floss since.

There's a ton of evidence in the literature supporting that gum disease and cavities are, obviously, a bacterial issue. Flossing is an obvious way to disrupt pathogenic bacterial colonies by abrasion. I think irrigation is much better, as it reaches deep pockets below gums. But it doesn't replace flossing entirely. Those two, coupled with regular brushing of teeth, gum and tongue, plus oral probiotics should keep iss…

Where is this research that flossing is "an obvious way to disrupt pathogenic bacterial colonies by abrasion".

Here's some research that claims flossing actually causes problems.

"Dental flossing can produce bacteraemia in periodontally healthy and periodontally diseased individuals at a rate comparable with that caused by some dental treatments for which antibiotic prophylaxis is given to prevent IE." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-051X.2008....

Re: Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

#133

Post by flushandforget »

ewzimm wrote: post #96
gjem97 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's missing the point. And, as an aside, so are all the comments in this thread that are essentially "flossing works for me, so I'm going to keep doing it." The point of this article is not that people should stop flossing, or that it's bad for some reason. The point is that an entire industry of medical professionals were saying "floss because it reduces you risk of tooth decay and gum disease," when in f…

Not everything needs research. Flossing removes decompsosing food from between your teeth. Dentists understand that tooth decay and gum disease result from prolonged exposure to decomposing food. If doctors told me that putting out shirt fires reduces the risk of burning to death, I would trust them without verified research.

Completely anecdotal, my brother totally neglected his teeth when he was young. He just didn't bother brushing. His teeth were fine. I on the other hand have been a stickler for cleaning them, and they are totally knackered.

Perhaps you can get a layer of magic plaque that protects the teeth. Who knows. Mine just get worse. They used to feel dirty without a brush. Now they feel horrible without a brush and floss. Sometimes I just wish for all my teeth to be ripped out.

Re: Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

#134

Post by leaveyou »

deanclatworthy wrote: post #86
leaveyou wrote: post #10

For me the water flossers (oral jet irrigators) are the best solution yet. I was never able to floss correctly with a wire, especially between the teeth in the back row but then my dentist told me about "the jet thing from amazon" and I wish I had it a lot earlier because it's so easy to use and quite efficient. (Just don't jet your gums with the highest power; it can hurt and make your gums bleed)

I looked into this. It just rinses the plaque in a lot of cases rather than scrapes it away.

I don't know what model you use but mine is quite powerful (it's not a "portable/battery" model and it has 10 steps of jet intensity) and obviously it's best used in combination with the brush. If this does not work, I don't know what else could work.

Re: Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

#135

Post by ewzimm »

badsock wrote: post #123
ewzimm wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everything needs research. Flossing removes decompsosing food from between your teeth. Dentists understand that tooth decay and gum disease result from prolonged exposure to decomposing food. If doctors told me that putting out shirt fires reduces the risk of burning to death, I would trust them without verified research.

Flossing can drive bacteria deeper into your gums, even causing them to be enter the bloodstream, which then (there's been some evidence) can have an influence on heart disease. Public policy needs research. Human history is absolutely stacked with "obvious" truths turning out to be harmful falsehoods.

I just looked that up, and I did find some advice that flossing addresses the food issue but not the issue of a bacterial infection not attached to pieces of food, which is probably also obvious. There are suggestions to use a water pick instead of flossing, which dentists have also recommended for a long time, but it's just not as available as string or toothpicks. It's not productive to tell everyone only to use the best possible solution if only 1% will actually do it.

So you have a good point, there are always new things to discover, but this is obvious in a way that's understood and doesn't in any way call into question the legitimacy of dentistry.

Re: Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

#136

Post by tomaskafka »

robbiep wrote: post #98
StavrosK wrote: post #67

Isn't it about time we got rid of the ridiculous "if we haven't researched it, we know nothing about it" fallacy? Research is strong evidence that points towards something. Lack of research doesn't mean complete lack of a-priori knowledge . If something is obviously good for you, then that's probably a good start for recommending it.

Your argument is a slippery slope for the acceptance of every kind of pseudoscience. How do we know something is 'obviously' good for you without research? NOTHING Is so cut and dry that you can make that statement. For example: organic food. Obviously, must be amazing for you. Got two great buzzwords in it: organic and food. Therefore, amazing for you. Does the research bear this out? Similarly, homeopathy, reiki, p…

Your argument is a slippery slope to discarding intuition :).

Re: Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

#137

Post by bsenftner »

gjem97 wrote: post #68
StavrosK wrote: post #67

Isn't it about time we got rid of the ridiculous "if we haven't researched it, we know nothing about it" fallacy? Research is strong evidence that points towards something. Lack of research doesn't mean complete lack of a-priori knowledge . If something is obviously good for you, then that's probably a good start for recommending it.

I think that's missing the point. And, as an aside, so are all the comments in this thread that are essentially "flossing works for me, so I'm going to keep doing it." The point of this article is not that people should stop flossing, or that it's bad for some reason. The point is that an entire industry of medical professionals were saying "floss because it reduces you risk of tooth decay and gum disease," when in f…

The entire medical profession exists in a slipper slope due to the incredible volume of information a medical education requires. There is no way to validate, or even consider the validity of much of what is taught. Friends in med school went through personal crisis as they came to terms with their complete inability to verify the volume of all the information they were being taught. Trying to track down original resources and derive to current thinking proved too much for one friend, and she quit med school saying the layers of assumptions on tangential research then used a foundation for further research was way too thin, and she is now afraid of medical doctors, calling the profession dangerous blind parrots.

Re: Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

#138

Post by criddell »

mountaineer22 wrote: post #61
leaveyou wrote: post #10

For me the water flossers (oral jet irrigators) are the best solution yet. I was never able to floss correctly with a wire, especially between the teeth in the back row but then my dentist told me about "the jet thing from amazon" and I wish I had it a lot earlier because it's so easy to use and quite efficient. (Just don't jet your gums with the highest power; it can hurt and make your gums bleed)

My wife recently purchased a battery-powered Waterpik and is obsessed with the thing (it works in the shower, too): http://amzn.to/2axkvkK She had been compulsively flossing, but this device has reduced that desire.

In the shower? Why didn't I think of that? I've used a Waterpik before and ended up throwing it away because I invariably made a big mess with it (especially my mirror).

Re: Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

#139

Post by foldr »

MicroBerto wrote: post #83
foldr wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>healthier smiles You mean healthier teeth?

No. Gums (and possibly even tongue) are also part of your "smile". Could have said "mouth" but smile sounds better. On the note of tongues, using a tongue scraper is a great way to get rid of nasty bacteria that causes bad breath and spreads to the rest of the teeth/gums. Cheap and effective.

I think it's maybe an American/non-American thing. Talking about healthy smiles just sounds like weird ad-speak to me.

Re: Federal health expert drop flossing from health guidelines

#140

Post by at-fates-hands »

Vexs wrote: post #131

Personal antecedent is that I never flossed for 18 years, and would always walk out of the dentist with a bleeding gum somewhere in my mouth, and my teeth would hurt drinking cold water, etc, but when I finally started flossing all those problems evaporated. Some mouths probably need it more than others, and it appears that mine is one of them. Is flossing the best option for inter-teeth cleaning? Maybe not. However,…

I can second that story.

I spent years between dental visits when I was between my parents health insurance and getting a job that actually covered dental. By that time, it was almost too late.

I had severe Periodontitis and was told that if I didn't do something within a few years, my teeth would start falling out. I had a root planing surgery and some other procedures done to save my teeth. My dentist said I was given another chance, but in order to save my teeth, it was paramount to floss every day.

I started flossing and at first my gums bled like crazy, but over time, the bleeding lessened and after 6 months of flossing and several more visits to the dentist, my gums were almost fully recovered and my teeth were effectively saved.

Since then I still floss daily and see my dentist every 6 months like clockwork. Since I started flossing my teeth, my teeth cleaning appointments are literally 30-40 minutes. I can get in and out and its completely painless.

All of this I attribute to flossing daily.

Post reply on HN