Speakers - 2026

Title: The therapy is in the flossing – not the floss

Abstract

Introduction: The scientifically proven most effective way to achieve and maintain a healthy mouth and smile is education and prevention – specifically primordial and primary prevention.  Primordial prevention is to stop people developing risk factors before the disease starts and primary prevention is to correct risk factors that have been developed before disease starts.

Background: In respect to oral hygiene, the current recommendations state that the precise regime should be tailored to individuals based upon risk factors and their current oral health. This includes brushing for two minutes twice daily supplemented with interdental cleaning between teeth. It’s also known that a lifestyle which incorporates interdental cleaning improves the fabric of a person’s health profile.

Objective: To clarify that there isn’t a conflict over the value of flossing and highlight that dental floss embodies the perfect properties for implementing and realising primary prevention.

Method: To present key statements from journalistic literature which, over the last 10 years, have created controversy around flossing. Statements that imply ‘flossing is a waste of time’. To present key statements from scientific literature which, at first glance, seem to say that flossing cannot be recommended, and then, to show how this is not what it says. Statements like: “The working group opinion and overall consensus was that flossing could not be recommended where interdental spaces were large enough to accommodate interdental brushes, but it may have a role where spaces were too tight to accommodate interdental brushes.”

Discussion - Evolution – Innovation: Evidence-based healthcare is essential - it provides insight upon which we develop treatment strategies. It also stimulates innovation.  Frustratingly, the studies often lack the details for us to fully understand the precise circumstances faced by the patients they feature. To discuss how my perception of science has evolved over my career through experience and how my knowledge of floss and the ways of using it more effectively has evolved over the same time.

Conclusion: To understand science supports the recommendation of flossing for primary prevention and it also advocates interdental brushes for secondary and tertiary prevention.