Posted on 08/06/2016 9:30:20 PM PDT by Trump20162020
When an orthodontist asked the reporter if he wanted a good story idea, the reporter, of course, said "yes."
Jeff Donn, a national writer with The Associated Press and 2012 Pulitzer finalist, was doubtful, at first, about that tip from his son's orthodontist: There's no solid evidence that flossing actually works.
"But when I started to look at research, I realized that it was a good tip and definitely the best one I ever got from an orthodontist."
As a reporter who's covered the dangers of aging nuclear power plants, drug safety and abandoned oil wells, Donn was attracted to the floss story because it seemed so easy for people to grasp, he said.
It also ended up having a big impact.
After lots of research and a FOIA request, his inquiries caused a change in government guidelines recommending flossing. He spoke with Poynter via email about how the story developed, what the response has been and whether he's still flossing.
(Excerpt) Read more at poynter.org ...
Suspect that getting the old food out from between your teeth is better than leaving it there, no matter what the “experts” say.
OJ Clinton is the old food between your teeth. Donald Trump is the floss.
I’m glad this crack reporter focused on something critically important. All the big problems like Clinton corruption and Obama treason have been thoroughly investigated.
This is truly a load of it. I entered into a strict regiment of flossing for six months and got an A+ cleaning after six months for the first time in my memory. There are some things that just aren’t subtle.
Took down flossing, eh? I bet someone else will be putting it right back up shortly. That’s the wacky world of “health” for you.
This article is bull.
Flossing works
Food between the teeth is very irritating and not attractive either.
Do you floss?
"Yes, I still do to remove annoying bits of foods stuck in my teeth. My wife yells at me when I use my finger or a fork. But I think the best science indicates that Im not doing anything beneficial for my health."
Flossing along with using a water pik twice a day (hydrogen peroxide for some reason helps also with plaque removal also ;).
This actually is a great article to read, for our side.
The government was telling people to floss, but they admitted they had no science to back up the fda recommendation, and the thing is, fda recommendations need to have something concrete to make such recommendations. What the reporter found is that they had no such criteria, and when they were called on it, they dropped it because they admitted they had no scientific research to point to.
This is good. Not bad.
This is the government recommending something and they did not follow their own procedures, and could not find anything to base it on, so they dropped it. All from a simple FOIA request.
Further the article points out that of course, getting food that is stuck between your teeth out is obviously a good thing, but systematically flossing your teeth that don’t have problems, this is where the benefit is questioned.
How do you do a double blind study on flossing? Maybe only have Alzheimer's patients tested so they don't remember whether they flossed or not.
Too bad flossing doesn't have the authoritarian push of global warming. Then the government could just pay for the studies to get the answers they want. Flossing deniers would be run out of dental schools as heretics, compared to Holocaust deniers and be denied jobs by "respectable" dentist offices.
A little more seriously, sometimes the requirements for scientific proof in medicine is a pain in the butt. Terpin hydrate was a great cough syrup. When I got bronchitis it was the only thing to clear my lungs - guaifenesin didn't do one tenth as good. And it was dirt cheap. The problem was it was so old that no one wanted to go back and do the proper studies on it and it was off patent and too cheap to provide the money to do those studies. Thus it was just pulled from the shelf. I doubt dental floss will disappear, but I will harass my dental hygienist about it in a month or so.
Dental sticks work just as well and are easier to use.
Flossing is absolutely critical every day at least two times a day. Bacteria build from food stuck between your teeth can create health problems. Plus it will give you bad breath too if sits there.
I know all types of Dentists/Doctors/Alternative medicine.
This is the one area they all agree on. You are crazy if you don’t floss.
A lack of conclusive evidence concerning the benefits of flossing does not equal “flossing doesn’t work.” It just means that no one has designed and executed good flossing research yet. Try explaining that difference to many people who have been educated in government schools, which includes AP reporters.
Flossing helps remove all kinds of gunk BEFORE brushing and is a beneficial exercise. Most Dentists agree. Why take down this positive habit?
So we can be more like the Brits?
I would do h2o2 rinses and oil pulling before flossing teeth that don’t need something removed.
what is oil pulling
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