When was dental floss invented

But what about dental floss? Have we always flossed our teeth? Below is a brief history of dental floss! Along with chewsticks, anthropologists have discovered ancient remains of small, sharpened sticks believed to be used for interdental cleaning between the teeth.

In fact, some chewsticks had sharpened points on one end, making it a double sided oral health tool! These early toothpicks set the precedent for later devices used for interdental cleaning.

Ancient remains have been found with grooves worn in between their teeth, suggesting the regular use of floss and toothpicks. The earliest iteration of modern dental floss was introduced in , by a New Orleans dentist named Dr.

Levi Spear Parmly. Parmly encouraged his patients to floss with a waxed silken thread after each visit. Today, flossing is a staple of oral hygiene and health. But have you ever wondered when we started flossing? You might be surprised by the answer. Thank you for choosing our practice! Top image by Flickr user Photos by S. Image cropped and modified from original. The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions. Own a Private Dental Practice? Register Now. Dental floss generally comes in plastic dispensers. They contain 10 to meters of floss and have a small protected blade which is used to sever the desired amount of floss. Thread of dental floss is then held between the fingers or strung on a fork-like instrument.

Particles of food stuck between teeth are then removed by guiding of the thread between each tooth and under the gumline. Most important characteristic of dental floss to look after when buying is its thickness. If the floss is too thick it can be too wide for the space between a pair of teeth and it could not be used. If the floss is too thin, it may be too weak and could break when tighten.

There are also specialized plastic wands, or so-called floss picks, that are produced to hold the floss. They can also have dispensers for floss built into them.