When you see your dentist for preventive care, there is a good chance that he or she will spend part of your appointment talking to you about your flossing habits. Dentists recommend that people floss at least once per day in order to remove food and bacteria from the areas in between teeth that are hard to reach by brushing alone. If you don’t floss, this material can turn into plaque and then tartar, increasing your chances of tooth decay and gum disease. Flossing is an ingrained part of modern oral health care, but when did people first start to floss? Here’s a brief look at this progression of floss from new invention to standard practice.

 

Pre-Floss Flossing

For as long as people have been eating, they’ve been getting food stuck in their teeth. As such, the need for floss is timeless. Anthropologists who study ancient civilizations believe that flossing was a part of most societies—if not specifically for oral health purposes, then at least for practical purposes of removing food from between the teeth. Pointed sticks and strings of animal hair or fabric are thought to have been used as prehistoric dental floss implements.

 

Levi Spear Parmly

A New Orleans-based dentist, Levi Spear Parmly, gets the credit for introducing the modern idea of flossing. Around 1815, he suggested that patients use silk thread to clean between their teeth, and shops in the area started selling thread to fulfill this roll. In 1898, Johnson & Johnson took this idea national when they introduced dental floss made of silk thread that was commonly used in stitches to the national market.

 

Flossing Today

Over the years, floss has transitioned from silk to nylon and now can be found in a variety of different materials, including Gore-Tex. You can also find many different styles of floss, including soft floss, waxed and unwaxed floss, and specialty floss for use with braces.

 

Make sure your oral health is as good as it can be with a general dentistry appointment at University Associates in Dentistry. From cleanings to periodontics, we do it all. To schedule a dental consultation in Chicago, call (312) 704-5511.

When you reach for your dental floss—which should be at least once a day, as recommended by your dentist—you probably don’t spend much time thinking about the history of the product. However, food has been getting caught in teeth since people started eating, and humans have been looking for ways to clean between their teeth since then. Here is a quick look at the history of dental floss and how it has changed over the years.

 

Ancient Dental Floss

There is evidence that ancient people made rudimentary toothbrushes and dental floss, and that dental floss may have been around for longer than brushes. The first way that people performed interdental cleaning appears to have been similar to modern toothpicks. Sharpened sticks were used to dig in between teeth and clean those areas. Eventually, sticks gave way to horsehair. Horsehair is believed to have been used both as dental floss and as bristles for toothbrushes.

 

Silk Dental Floss

The first introduction of dental floss in its more familiar modern form came in 1815, when a dentist in New Orleans suggested that patients use a waxed thread of silk to floss. This thread could be easily obtained, since it was available on the market for sewing. Dr. Levi Parmly wrote a book on tooth care which suggested that people floss once per day. In 1882, unwaxed silk threads for dental use hit the market, and in 1898, Johnson & Johnson applied for a patent to mass-produce and market floss.

 

Modern Dental Floss

During World War II, silk because too expensive to use for floss. Dr. Charles Bass suggested nylon be used instead. Today, you can find floss made of a wide range of different materials, in both waxed and non-waxed varieties.

 

At University Associates in Dentistry, you’ll find only the latest advances in dental technologies, but our dentists still recommend that patients follow Dr. Parlmy’s advice to floss at least once a day. Make an appointment with a general dentist in Chicago by calling (312) 704-5511.