New survey reveals weird and wonderful objects people use instead of flossing
A new survey has revealed a weird and wonderful of selection of items used by people to dislodge food from between the teeth. Rather than flossing, the survey suggests that people use strands of hair, safety pins and even cutlery to remove traces of food from the cracks between the teeth.
Research conducted by the manufacturers of Waterpik, a dental cleaning device that is designed for home use, found that conventional flossing is often replaced by using objects that are easily accessible. Of the 1,005 people involved in the survey, 61 percent admitted to using a nail to try and dislodge food from the teeth. Forty percent used folded paper and more than 20 percent had attempted to clean their teeth using cutlery. Almost 15 percent of people used safety pins and 7 percent resorted to using pieces of their own hair. The study was carried out on adults in Alaska, Hawaii and other parts of the US.
The findings of the survey are rather surprising, especially given that more than 60 percent of participants said that they understood the risks of putting foreign objects in the mouth. More than 40 percent of people also admitted that they had experienced pain after being overzealous when trying to dislodge bits of food.
Dr Brittany Seymour, from Harvard School of Medicine, said that it’s really easy to use floss, water flossers and tooth picks and urged patients to find a method they get on well with and avoid using foreign objects, which may do more harm than good.
More than half of those who said that they didn’t floss used time as an excuse, while 16 percent said that they found flossing painful.
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