A New Study Revealed Dental Floss Could Be Toxic To Your Body

The dentists suggest three-step cleaning of the teeth- brush, floss, and mouth wash. Who does not want to have shiny and white teeth and people use many products to have white teeth? The tooth ailments and tooth decay have been rising among people due to poor eating habits. Various dental clinics are receiving many cases of issues of teeth problems. The dental floss that people are using for their teeth can bring about detrimental consequences to their body.

How does floss affect the body?

Not all floss is deleterious to the human body and there are some which are doing their work to maintain healthy teeth without harming the body. The floss which does harm to the body is believed to contain fluorine that transfers a high level of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) to the human blood.

What is PFA?

PFA is a chemical that makes an element or substance waterproof and greaseproof. This is commonly found in food wrappers, Teflon, non-stick cookware, water and stain resistant clothes, and flame-retardant fabrics. People receive PFA an in their body with the usage of such products or preparing food or consuming food wrapped in such products. The household dust and contaminated water may contain PFAs too.

A recent study concluded the presence of PFAs in floss for the very first time and how they enter they enter the body. Their entrance to the body, however, can be restricted by being a smart shopper.

Findings of the study

The study has evidently discovered that a certain brand of floss is causing the entrance of PFAs in the women’s body who were tested during the survey. Their all eating patterns were noted down before coming to this conclusion.

What is so harmful about PFAs?

The people who have a higher presence of PFAs in their body are at an increased risk of kidney and testicular cancer, high cholesterol, fertility issues, and ulcerative colitis. Escalated PFAs can also lead to decreased birth weight of newborn kids, and can also cause thyroid-related issues, weak immunity, as well as lower sex and growth hormones among children.

It is also discovered to affect women more than men and this could be because of female sex hormones. The women report having declined metabolism regaining of higher weight after the diet.

What is the solution for this?

Presence of fluorine in floss does not mean discontinuance of usage of floss. Only some specific brand or brands which are reported to raise PFAs in the body should be discontinued and while purchasing the buyer should read all the ingredients. The people can also ask their dentists to recommend a healthy brand of floss to them.

All in all, cleaning teeth with floss is a healthy habit and it should not be given up till the time healthy floss brands are available.