Dental Floss: Your Daily Biofilm Demolition

We've all heard that flossing should be part of our daily oral hygiene routine, but why?? Less than half of us (in the U.S.) actually follow this recommendation. I suspect* it has something to do with the following:

1) Flossing is fundamentally strange and appears to be more an act of masochism than one of self-care. If a dentist were to describe flossing to someone unfamiliar with the practice it would go something like this: "Now, I want you to take this string and force it between your teeth. Then slide it all the way up into the space between your gum and tooth. Don't worry if you have a mouth full of blood, that will go away after you get used to it. Repeat that for every tooth in your mouth" Ummm, that's supposed to be good for me?

2)  Flossing, from the perspective of the human eye, offers little instant gratification. On occasion, a visible food particle might get removed but mostly there isn't much to see. Should you skip a day, or even a week of flossing, you likely won't notice any difference. Fail to brush your teeth and you'll have retched breath. Skip bathing and soon you'll be oily and stinky. But hey, nobody has to know that you were tired and skipped flossing last night, right? And then you skipped the night after, and the night after...

As you can probably guess, this post is not about why you should never floss. Here's the deal: flossing is actually incredibly important but its daily impact occurs on the microscopic level. With an understanding of this impact, you may learn to appreciate the power of dental floss.

We all have mouths full of bacteria - some are helpful and others can lead to the development of cavities, gum disease, and other oral health maladies. Our teeth are prime real estate for the formation of biofilms, which are communities of bacteria that adhere to surfaces and surround themselves with tough, protective matrices. Just like other organisms, bacteria find safety in numbers and are able to accomplish greater feats as a team than on their own. On a daily basis, biofilms begin to form on your teeth within minutes after brushing. Go ahead, feel your teeth right now - notice that slimy quality they have? That, my friend, is a biofilm referred to as dental plaque. The longer these bacterial communities are left undisturbed, the tougher they become. When we brush, the biofilm foundations are damaged and the bacteria are prevented from advancing too far in their building efforts (do you really want bacteria building sky scrapers and condos on your teeth?). There are crevices in your mouth that a toothbrush can't reach, such as between your gum line. Though you can't see this with your naked eye, flossing is like a dynamite explosion to the plaque taking up residence between your teeth and gums. Without this daily demolition, plaque continues to build up and eventually hardens into dental tartar (also called calculus, but not the kind you learn in math class), which can only be removed by the scraping of  professional dental instruments (a far more terrible and awkward experience than flossing). If not removed, dental plaque and tartar can contribute to a wide array of periodontal disease, not to mention an unsightly and malodorous smile.

There you have it, the truth behind why you really should slide that string between your teeth every day.

*This suspicion is based purely on my personal reflections and observations and is not (to my knowledge) backed by a reputable source of scientific data. If someone would like to turn this into a testable hypothesis, please be my guest.