Ask Natural Life:
What is Dental Floss Made Of?
by Wendy Priesnitz
Photo © bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock |
Q: I’ve just come from a dentist appointment, where they cleaned my teeth
and sent me home with a goodie bag of toothpaste and floss. I prefer a
fluoride-free brand of toothpaste. But now I’m wondering about the
ingredients in the floss: It must contain flavorings and who knows what
else. Do you know what it's made of? Can I just skip flossing?
A: Dentists have been telling us for decades that the use of dental floss
effectively removes plaque, a gel-like substance
made of bacteria that forms on and between teeth, as well as below the gum
line. It has been thought to be an important part of our dental hygiene
routine because normal brushing doesn't remove all the the plaque. And if it is not removed, it hardens and can cause gingivitis or
an inflammation of the gums. Eventually, gums begin to separate from the
teeth, forming “pockets” that can become infected, ultimately destroying
bone and resulting in tooth loss. Flossing disturbs the bacteria, stopping
it before it can create plaque. Various studies have shown that, aside from tooth loss, gum disease is a big
risk factor for Alzheimer’s and memory issues.
However, doubt has recently been cast on the usefulness of dental
flossing to effectively remove plaque. A 2015 investigation by the news
organization the Associated Press (AP) involved Freedom of Information
requests to the US Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) asking for
the research leading to its recommendation in favor of flossing. The HHS
subsequently quietly dropped the advice, and Public Health England has also
said that it will be reviewing its own guidance on flossing. In a letter to
the AP, the US government acknowledged the effectiveness of flossing had
never been researched. That seems not to be totally true, because AP looked
at twenty-five studies comparing combinations of various toothbrushes and
floss and found that the evidence for flossing is "weak, very unreliable,"
of "very low" quality, and carries "a moderate to large potential for bias."
Even if you decide to continue to continue to floss for now, you are right to question which type of floss to use, for both your
health and that of the environment and the rest of civilization.
Some dental floss is made from nylon, a synthetic fiber derived from
petroleum products. Petroleum is a non-sustainable resource, the extraction
and production of which has had major detrimental impacts on the soil,
ground water, surface water, and ecosystems. Nylon takes about fifty years
to break down in the environment, and discarded floss (especially when it’s
thrown in the toilet) can clog sewers, pollute lakes, and harm wildlife.
Floss is also often coated with a petroleum-based wax. Americans buy over
three million miles of dental floss every year, so this is substantial
damage.
Floss made from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is becoming increasingly
popular – and is marketed to dental offices to be given out to clients. Many
people like it because it doesn’t shred and is easier to “glide” between
tight teeth and around braces.
Other ingredients can be flavors and additives that vary with the
manufacturer and can include fluoride. The summary of one dental floss
patent reads: “Porous, high strength (PTFE) dental floss is coated with
micro-crystalline wax. If desired, the floss may also incorporate one or
more active tartar control, anticaries, antiplaque and/or antibacterial
actives and/or dentally acceptable agents such as polishing and abrasive
agents, coolants, flavorants and/or coagulants.”
Those can all be problematic for our health, but PTFE is the biggest
problem, in my opinion. It also provides the coating in non-stick cookware,
under its DuPont trade name Teflon. Although the main concern over Teflon
has been the release of toxins when cookware is overheated, a chemical used
in its manufacture, called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), creates other
problems. PTFE belongs to a class of perfluorochemicals (PFCs), which have
become global pollutants in a short period of time. They have been found in
our cities, on remote islands, in forests, and in polar regions, showing up
in drinking water and wildlife.
Studies also show that nearly all people, regardless of age, have some
PFCs in their blood. They have been found in samples of human breast milk,
and in the blood of newborns. (Kathleen Arcaro of the University of
Massachusetts, who found PFCs in samples of human milk from nursing mothers,
says that while nursing does not expose infants to a dose that exceeds
recommended limits, breast milk should be considered as an additional source
of PFCs when determining a child’s total exposure.)
PFCs are thought to be more persistent in the environment than PCBs and
DDT. They have been produced, used, and disposed of essentially without
regulation for the last half-century. But even if production were to end
today, levels would continue to increase in the environment for many years
to come.
The way PFCs get into human blood is not known at this time. We could be
exposed through food, water, or the environment where the chemicals have
been spilled or released (including in house dust), or by using the hundreds
of commercial products containing them – like dental floss and other
personal care products, carpets manufactured before 2002, and the
grease-resistant packaging in microwave popcorn bags and pizza boxes.
PFCs are thought to be carcinogenic, are suspected endocrine and hormone
disruptors, may cause birth defects, are associated with neurological
problems such as delayed gross motor development, and suppress the immune
response. A recent study published in the journal of Environmental Science &
Technology suggests that elevated PFC blood levels may boost ADHD risks by
making children prone to impulsive behavior. (The researchers caution that
cause and effect are unclear: Children who are more impulsive to begin with
may spend more time licking and chewing commercial products, giving them
higher exposure to PFCs.)
A study published in January 2012 in the Journal of American Medical
Association described how PFCs may interfere with childhood vaccinations. In
the study, children who had higher concentrations of PFCs in their blood had
lower or virtually no immune responses to diphtheria and tetanus
vaccinations. Researchers “were surprised by the steep negative
associations, which suggest that PFCs may be more toxic to the immune system
than current dioxin exposures.”
Alternatives
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive, eco-friendly
alternative for the basic component of dental floss. But you still have
choices. Researchers have compared different types of dental floss and
determined that there is no difference in their effectiveness.
The fact that ingredients aren’t often printed on the packaging
(especially the little freebies you get from your dentist), makes choosing a
safer alternative difficult. Your best bet is a natural food store or co-op.
Look for unwaxed or natural vegetable wax coatings, and no flavorings. Many
of the alternatives use beeswax, but that might not be suitable if you’re
concerned about using animal byproducts.
There are a number of companies selling natural floss made from silk.
However, silk is also problematic for vegans and those who focus on animal
rights, and can involve child labor and chemical treatments. Nylon filaments
woven together and coated with natural wax are a not-so-perfect alternative.
Look for minimal plastic packaging or, even better, recyclable paper
fiber packaging. (Regular plastic packaging for floss usually is a Code #5
for plastic recycling – although many do not come with a code number, and
not all municipal recycling programs accept Code 5 plastics.)
Floss picks cut down on the actual amount of floss needed, using only one
inch instead of eighteen per use, but they are still disposable and the
handles are also made from petroleum-based plastic. And please avoid those
over-packaged, one-use, throwaway floss picks.
Electric toothbrushes are far superior to brushing with
normal brushes in terms of removing plaque. In one study, electric brushes
were associated with a twenty-one percent reduction in plaque and an eleven
percent reduction in gum inflammation compared with manual brushing. Water
piks, which clean your teeth with a high-pressure jet of water are also
particularly effective. And regular, twice yearly
cleaning by a dental hygienist will get rid of all the remaining plaque.
Wendy Priesnitz is Natural Life’s editor,
a journalist with forty years of experience, and the author of
thirteen books.
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