Reusing Dental Floss … ?
Dental floss. Depending on your perspective, it’s the quiet hero or ineffective villain of oral hygiene. It even earned a spot on the National Calendar of Days (the day after Thanksgiving, if you’re feeling festive). The Chicago Tribune says people spend about $2 billion per year worldwide on floss, and that half of this spending occurs in the US.
Some people don’t floss at all. Some people floss every single day. Most people fall somewhere in the middle of this continuum. And yes, among those who floss, there are those who reuse their floss. Why would someone do this? Is it safe? We’ll consider these points below.
A Brief History of Floss
Humans have used a variety of materials through the ages to get stuff un-wedged from the nooks and crannies between their teeth including twigs, chew sticks, toothpicks, paper, horse hair, and starting in 1815, silken dental floss. Manufacturers started using nylon to make dental floss when silk became too expensive during World War II. Modern floss is generally made of nylon, Teflon and occasionally, silk.
Who’s Reusing Floss?
In an informal survey, I found that three percent of my friends are reusing their dental floss at least once. One person reported that she doesn’t reuse floss, but does wash and reuse floss threaders.
Reusing Floss to Save Money
According to Statista.com, North Americans spent $181 million on dental flossing products in 2019. If you’re paying four or five bucks for a roll of floss four or five times a year, this adds up. Reusing floss is one strategy some folks employ to cut costs.
Reusing Floss to Save the Environment
Zero Waste California says it takes regular nylon dental floss 80 years to biodegrade. Nylon floss is also not recyclable. Silk floss biodegrades more quickly, but costs more and isn’t vegan. Reusing floss can be viewed as one strategy for reducing one’s environmental impact.
Re-Using Floss to Save Time
Using floss that’s already pre-cut or pre-threaded onto a flosser shaves seconds off your daily dental routine. Seconds you could be using to trim your toenails, exfoliate your elbows, shape your eyebrows, or just look at TikTok.
What Do the Experts Say?
This probably won’t be a surprise. The American Dental Association recommends against reusing dental floss. Floss can get frayed. Even if it’s not frayed, used floss has bacteria on it that could cause infection or cavities if introduced to other parts of your mouth.
Wait — What If I Rinse the Floss Off?
Remember how tiny bacteria are? They’re nestled deep inside the floss, no matter how much you scrub it. They’re lying in wait, ready to jump off in the next nice warm cozy spot they find — like another part of your mouth.
To Reuse or Not To Reuse?
I hadn’t considered reusing dental floss before I started researching this topic. It just had too much of an ick factor for me. I don’t have all the answers, but I’ll leave you with this: if you’re on the fence about whether or not to reuse your floss, do a web search for ‘microscopic images of used dental floss.’
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