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For years, the USA has used the fact that its citizens floss as a stick to beat the British with.

Long have we Brits endured American jokes about the state of our teeth, and our aversion to putting strips of wax between our gum line.

Oh, how they mocked us...

But as always, Britannia rules the waves, and it turns out Britain was right...again!!!

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/03/dentists-great-flossing-yarn

Even the US dentist association is starting to see sense


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/02/dental-floss-proof-works-guidelines-dropped

One day, Americans might say, if Britain was right about flossing, maybe they're right about drinking tea, monarchy, and ditching root beer.

"flossing simply doesn’t work as a health measure (or a fetish)."

Well one of those is provably wrong. *pulls floss taut*

 Avatar 720 wrote:
"flossing simply doesn’t work as a health measure (or a fetish)."

Well one of those is provably wrong. *pulls floss taut*

Dental floss actually makes good bandages/ camouflage rolls/stowage etc for miniature wargaming tanks and soldiers), so there is some use for it.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Avatar 720 wrote:
"flossing simply doesn’t work as a health measure (or a fetish)."

Well one of those is provably wrong. *pulls floss taut*

Dental floss actually makes good bandages/ camouflage rolls/stowage etc for miniature wargaming tanks and soldiers), so there is some use for it.

So your saying that even when our reign of terror ends, a new one begins!

 LordofHats wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Avatar 720 wrote:
"flossing simply doesn’t work as a health measure (or a fetish)."

Well one of those is provably wrong. *pulls floss taut*

Dental floss actually makes good bandages/ camouflage rolls/stowage etc for miniature wargaming tanks and soldiers), so there is some use for it.

So your saying that even when our reign of terror ends, a new one begins!

If you want to go down the positive spin road, by all means do so, but as far as I'm concerned, Yorktown has been avenged

Back OT

I started using the interdental brushes a few months back, and they seem to work quite well. They don't cut your gums to shreds like floss. Always use the plastic bristles, never the metal bristles

Always knew flossing was GAK. Go Britts!

So potentially leaving bits of food in between teeth is ok? Even the Brits recommend inter-dental brushes, indicating that mechanical cleaning of inter-dental spaces is important. Some people may not have sufficient space for such brushes between teeth, which gets us back to floss.

I think the article title is hugely misleading and typical of media pop science.

As to making fun of Brit teeth, I am sure there is an easy retort concerning American weight... At least you Brits can get some health care!

 jmurph wrote:
So potentially leaving bits of food in between teeth is ok? Even the Brits recommend inter-dental brushes, indicating that mechanical cleaning of inter-dental spaces is important. Some people may not have sufficient space for such brushes between teeth, which gets us back to floss.

I think the article title is hugely misleading and typical of media pop science.

As to making fun of Brit teeth, I am sure there is an easy retort concerning American weight... At least you Brits can get some health care!

What does getting healthcare have to do with our overloaded carb heavy diet?

The studies really haven't said that flossing doesn't do any good, they just said that there haven't been any good long-term studies to show either way.

The main reason they dropped the recommendation is that it's easier to focus on sugars in our diet than it is to focus on flossing from a national health perspective. They aren't saying "don't floss", they are not telling dentists that they shouldn't recommend flossing, they are just saying that at a national level they are not going to focus on flossing.

If something else gets the large chunks of food out from my crooked teeth after meals I'm all ears. If the world ended I'd miss toilet paper and dental floss. We're slowly but surely inching toward a monarchy over here anyway, so maybe we're conceding that one. But not the floss. I need the floss.

 Monkey Tamer wrote:
If something else gets the large chunks of food out from my crooked teeth after meals I'm all ears.

Force of will.

 Monkey Tamer wrote:
If something else gets the large chunks of food out from my crooked teeth after meals I'm all ears. If the world ended I'd miss toilet paper and dental floss. We're slowly but surely inching toward a monarchy over here anyway, so maybe we're conceding that one. But not the floss. I need the floss.

Well, they aren't saying that flossing is useless or doesn't get rid of the chunks of food between your teeth.

It's once again one of those instances where crappy reporting makes things worse, but the studies and the recommendations by the USDA boil down to this:

- There haven't been any long term studies that really show a marked impact on the rates of tooth decay.
- The USDA dropped "floss every day to prevent tooth decay" from their list of recommendation and is now focusing solely on diet to prevent tooth decay.

That's really it.

 Monkey Tamer wrote:
If something else gets the large chunks of food out from my crooked teeth after meals I'm all ears.

Bootstraps! Just pull on them and you should be all fixed up no problem.

 Monkey Tamer wrote:
If something else gets the large chunks of food out from my crooked teeth after meals I'm all ears. If the world ended I'd miss toilet paper and dental floss. We're slowly but surely inching toward a monarchy over here anyway, so maybe we're conceding that one. But not the floss. I need the floss.

Toothpicks are an excellent alternative. And if you've got the tools and surplus wood, you can make your own.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 d-usa wrote:
The studies really haven't said that flossing doesn't do any good, they just said that there haven't been any good long-term studies to show either way.

The main reason they dropped the recommendation is that it's easier to focus on sugars in our diet than it is to focus on flossing from a national health perspective. They aren't saying "don't floss", they are not telling dentists that they shouldn't recommend flossing, they are just saying that at a national level they are not going to focus on flossing.

That corn syrup you guys put in your foodstuffs is evil and not good for your teeth. You could start with ditching that.

Wait... what's wrong with root beer?

 Necros wrote:
Wait... what's wrong with root beer?

The whole civilised world thinks it is disgusting.
You should drink kvass instead. Everyone likes kvass.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:

 Monkey Tamer wrote:
If something else gets the large chunks of food out from my crooked teeth after meals I'm all ears. If the world ended I'd miss toilet paper and dental floss. We're slowly but surely inching toward a monarchy over here anyway, so maybe we're conceding that one. But not the floss. I need the floss.

Toothpicks are an excellent alternative. And if you've got the tools and surplus wood, you can make your own.

I use a spare metal blunt sculpting tool. Because its metal, its actually useful for scraping away hardened plaque too.

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 Necros wrote:
Wait... what's wrong with root beer?

The whole civilised world thinks it is disgusting.
You should drink kvass instead. Everyone likes kvass.

Oh please. You guys are all missing out on the greatest carbonated soda on the face of the planet.

Hi. My name is caramel root beer and I make panties drop like it's Prom season.

 kronk wrote:
Hi. My name is caramel root beer and I make panties drop like it's Prom season.

Is that because it's so foul that people are in a big hurry to get it back out of their system?

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 Necros wrote:
Wait... what's wrong with root beer?

The whole civilised world thinks it is disgusting.
You should drink kvass instead. Everyone likes kvass.

I'm not so hot on rye bread, and in America, anything with alcohol in it is an adult beverage. We aren't cool like you guys... yet

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
For years, the USA has used the fact that its citizens floss as a stick to beat the British with.

Did the USA beat you and and take your lunch money when you were a kid or something?!?

 Alpharius wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
For years, the USA has used the fact that its citizens floss as a stick to beat the British with.

Did the USA beat you and and take your lunch money when you were a kid or something?!?

I think they tied him to the flagpole with floss

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

 Alpharius wrote:

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
For years, the USA has used the fact that its citizens floss as a stick to beat the British with.

Did the USA beat you and and take your lunch money when you were a kid or something?!?

I think they tied him to the flagpole with floss

Then gave him a floss wedgie.

 gunslingerpro wrote:

 Iron_Captain wrote:

 Necros wrote:
Wait... what's wrong with root beer?

The whole civilised world thinks it is disgusting.
You should drink kvass instead. Everyone likes kvass.

Oh please. You guys are all missing out on the greatest carbonated soda on the face of the planet.

Oh my goodness... I recently moved to New England and thus experienced this stuff. I have to say, it is.... interesting. A hilarious review can be found here: http://www.thesodajerks.net/soda-reviews/2010/1/11/moxie.html


I am guilty of not flossing, but I think I'd prefer that sculpting tool method that was mentioned above!

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
But as always, Britannia rules the waves, and it turns out Britain was right...again!!!

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/03/dentists-great-flossing-yarn

I'd leave pictures of British people's teeth as evidence to the contrary but I'm afraid the Mods would sanction me if I did.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
maybe they're right about drinking tea

Here, just because it'll offend you.