YOUR DENTAL HEALTH Flossing By Dr. Jesh Recently in the news, an article released by the Associated Press made the claim that flossing is unnecessary, as there was no scientific evidence to prove its benefits. This article gained a ton of publicity on both newspapers and the intemet. We as dentists, however, have been preaching the benefits of flossing for years and continuously reiterating its importance to cach and every one of our patients, Now, if you already have your mind made up that flossing is unnecessary, I doubt that anything I can write will change that. However, if in light of this new information you're now sitting on the fence of whether flossing is something you should do, let me highlight my thoughts Dr. Jesh Tse To complete a study of how one variable affects another, for example, how flossing affects tooth decay formation, all other variables that could contribute to prodacing the same result would need to be removed. For such a multifactorial discase such as tooth decay, removing those other variables is quite dificult. You cannot simply have everyone in the test group stop brushing their teeth, stop or start smoking, or eating no sugar. These variables can have a drastic impact on the results. The other way to eliminate these variables is to have a large enough group size that these variables balance each other from randomization. The other issae with stadying tooth decay is that it is a slow process. The start of new cavity formation takes a significant amount of time, it can take more than 6 months to grow from the first visible signs of enamel demineralization on an x-ray to when a dentist may choose to treat the cavity. This doesn't even include the amount of time necessary for the decay process to even initiate. As it may be becoming clearer, in ceder to test for fleossing we would need a very large popalation size for the study, and studied over multiple years to be able to determine whether flossing has an effect. A stady of this magnitude would require significant cost and as a result, a complete and verified study such as this has yet to happen. The article in the Associated Press made it seem that since there is no such study to prove a link between flossing and a reduction in decay and cavities, that this indicates that there is no actual proof of the necessity of flossing. In my mind, there is a fairly simple test o show you that flossing works. After dinner, brush your teeth for as long as you would normally, I recommend two minutes, trying to be as thorough as possible. After that, simply floss your teth with proper echnique and see if there is anything on the floss. Depending on how often you floss, there may or may not be an odour associated with this debris. If you consider that food debris and bacteria left in constant contact with tooth structure results in decay, then I don't think a study involving a large population and high cost is necessary. In the end, for most people I think it is apparent that flossing is beneficial and a necessary step in maintaining good oral hygiene. I don't think that this recent "revelation" really swayed anyone either way in their thinking about whether they should floss. I'm confident that most people can afford the minute of extra time in their routine to floss if they wanted to, whether it actually prevents cavities and gum disease or not. Here's hoping that you will AURA Call: 778-754-AURA (2872) DENTAL CLINIC DR. JESH Tsr, Dos ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS GENERAL & FAMILY DENTISTRY DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY SEDATION OPTIONS AVAILABLE FAMILY ORIENTED CARE EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS CALL: 778-754-AURA (2872) #305. 2205 LOUIE DRIVE. WEST KELOWNA. BC VAT 3C3 www.WESTKELOWNADENTAL.CA YOUR DENTAL HEALTH Flossing By Dr. Jesh Recently in the news, an article released by the Associated Press made the claim that flossing is unnecessary, as there was no scientific evidence to prove its benefits. This article gained a ton of publicity on both newspapers and the intemet. We as dentists, however, have been preaching the benefits of flossing for years and continuously reiterating its importance to cach and every one of our patients, Now, if you already have your mind made up that flossing is unnecessary, I doubt that anything I can write will change that. However, if in light of this new information you're now sitting on the fence of whether flossing is something you should do, let me highlight my thoughts Dr. Jesh Tse To complete a study of how one variable affects another, for example, how flossing affects tooth decay formation, all other variables that could contribute to prodacing the same result would need to be removed. For such a multifactorial discase such as tooth decay, removing those other variables is quite dificult. You cannot simply have everyone in the test group stop brushing their teeth, stop or start smoking, or eating no sugar. These variables can have a drastic impact on the results. The other way to eliminate these variables is to have a large enough group size that these variables balance each other from randomization. The other issae with stadying tooth decay is that it is a slow process. The start of new cavity formation takes a significant amount of time, it can take more than 6 months to grow from the first visible signs of enamel demineralization on an x-ray to when a dentist may choose to treat the cavity. This doesn't even include the amount of time necessary for the decay process to even initiate. As it may be becoming clearer, in ceder to test for fleossing we would need a very large popalation size for the study, and studied over multiple years to be able to determine whether flossing has an effect. A stady of this magnitude would require significant cost and as a result, a complete and verified study such as this has yet to happen. The article in the Associated Press made it seem that since there is no such study to prove a link between flossing and a reduction in decay and cavities, that this indicates that there is no actual proof of the necessity of flossing. In my mind, there is a fairly simple test o show you that flossing works. After dinner, brush your teeth for as long as you would normally, I recommend two minutes, trying to be as thorough as possible. After that, simply floss your teth with proper echnique and see if there is anything on the floss. Depending on how often you floss, there may or may not be an odour associated with this debris. If you consider that food debris and bacteria left in constant contact with tooth structure results in decay, then I don't think a study involving a large population and high cost is necessary. In the end, for most people I think it is apparent that flossing is beneficial and a necessary step in maintaining good oral hygiene. I don't think that this recent "revelation" really swayed anyone either way in their thinking about whether they should floss. I'm confident that most people can afford the minute of extra time in their routine to floss if they wanted to, whether it actually prevents cavities and gum disease or not. Here's hoping that you will AURA Call: 778-754-AURA (2872) DENTAL CLINIC DR. JESH Tsr, Dos ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS GENERAL & FAMILY DENTISTRY DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY SEDATION OPTIONS AVAILABLE FAMILY ORIENTED CARE EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS CALL: 778-754-AURA (2872) #305. 2205 LOUIE DRIVE. WEST KELOWNA. BC VAT 3C3 www.WESTKELOWNADENTAL.CA