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All Friday Fun Fact Marvelous Monday Messy Media News You Can Use Tuesday Talk
12/27/2017 Is it Really Okay Not to Floss?Media headline:What the media says:Due to the fact that brushing and flossing daily have been recommended for years by the American Dental Association (ADA), it was assumed that there was sufficient evidence to back up the claims. Instead, it recently became clear that flossing specifically may not be as necessary as previously thought due to a lack of clinical trials (controlled experiments). A current review found very unreliable evidence that flossing actually reduces plaque or gingivitis (gum inflammation) in the short term. However, a dentistry expert is also quoted as saying that gingivitis can eventually lead to periodontitis (bone loss) after several years, so flossing likely is not doing any harm. Journal title:What the article actually says:A systematic review was performed, which is where researchers search every relevant internet database thoroughly for articles related to the topic in question. In this study. In this study, the researchers looked for all articles that included experiments on the benefits of flossing and brushing combined. They found 12 articles that had done controlled experiments on the benefits of flossing and brushing. After combining the data from all 12 articles, they found that flossing plus brushing, compared to brushing alone, significantly reduced gingivitis at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. Specifically, the longer the participants brushed and flossed, the better the effect. At the same time points, the amount of plaque reduced was so small that the researchers could not conclude that flossing and brushing together reduced plaque. Why the media is messy:
Bottom line:There is some evidence that flossing and brushing together reduces gingivitis and that this benefit increases with time. However, there is not enough evidence to conclude that flossing and brushing together reduced plaque. More research is needed over a longer period of time to definitely know the benefits of flossing. AuthorsElizabeth C. Long & Jessica L. Bourdon |