Turns out that more than a quarter of Americans lie about this particular activity. A third of folks say they would rather clean the toilet or work on their taxes than do it. To some folks, this simple activity is more annoying than listening to children crying on an airplane. What activity could be so horrible?
Flossing our teeth!
Flossing our teeth—yes, that simple, fast (EASY!) and extremely important process of removing plaque and food debris from between our teeth where the toothbrush can’t reach— is, according to a Harris Poll survey, often seen as more irksome than listening to the sound of nails on a chalkboard. (Chicagoans even said they’d rather sit in an hour of gridlock traffic than floss their teeth!)
Why such a fuss over floss? Drs. Levine and Fava think that patients aren’t thrilled with flossing since it doesn’t give us that same sense of clean teeth and fresh breath that brushing provides. But while flossing doesn’t make you feel “clean” it removes the harmful plaque bacteria that resides between the teeth. So don’t be fooled: flossing is just as important as brushing!
Dr. Fava urges patients to brush AND floss, just like dentists have been recommending for decades. “Brushing along with flossing only takes a few minutes a day, a small price to pay for a potential future free of periodontal disease.”