Re:Ask HN: What is your experience with Nano-Hydroxyapatite ...
by xctr94 on Monday October 16, 2023 @02:32AM
(#37896484)
Mouth rinses often contain alcohol or other harsh substances, some of which have a correlation with mouth cancer. By comparison, flossing is comparatively harmless. You can floss wrong, but even that seems better than not flossing.
From experience: I used to rinse AND floss, and the floss always came back with a little bit of organic matter which would’ve otherwise decomposed.
So arguing against floss in praise of mouth rinses doesn’t seem like such an obvious ‘just do it’ idea. It’s probably more nuanced than that. And you can always use the wrong rinse or rinse incorrectly.
Look at all the wives tales in the past that were semi-effective just because of placebo effects or like you say implementing a health measure (even if it is not directly effective) normally means you have better hygiene anyways.
The problem with flossing is that it is so easy to do wrong which is why only professional flossing has significant effects.
It’s worth people knowing that unless they are flossing on a professional level they aren’t necessarily doing anything to benefit themselves beyond what a mouth rinse would do.