Dental hygiene and the overall body hygiene are intricately linked. One cannot claim to observe hygiene when he or she has poor oral hygiene. Firstly, maintaining oral hygiene boosts people’s levels of confidence. In the case of having a group discussion in school or place of work, people with bad breathe will always find it uncomfortable to converse. A person with bad breathe as a consequence of poor oral hygiene will in most cases be isolated by peers. Secondly, oral hygiene is essential for the prevention of infections. For instance, in the absence of dental hygiene, bacteria find a safe haven to breed and cause various dental problems. Some of the conditions that arise as a result of poor dental health are gingivitis and plague. Gingivitis is a type of gum disease that occurs when plague, a sticky coat that contains bacteria accumulates on the teeth and triggers inflammation to the surrounding gum tissues. On the other hand, plague is a condition that leads to tooth decay, and results when bacteria excrete acids that corrode the tooth enamel. When people do not brush or floss regularly, the plague forms a tar. Nevertheless, the objective of this essay is to compare the two main types of floss, waxed and unwaxed, to establish if one is more effective than the other.
Article 1
Title: The effect of waxed and unwaxed dental floss on gingival health. Part 1. Plaque removal and gingival response
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Research question: What is the effectiveness of waxed and unwaxed floss in plague removal and on gingival health when used in a home oral hygiene program?
Findings: There was no statistical difference among the different types of floss in regard to their plaque removal ability or prevention of gingivitis
Summary
Eighty patients who had previously received periodontal therapy were split into four similar groups. Each of the groups represented the types of floss that was being tested, which included: Johnson and Johnson waxed, Butler waxed, Johnson and Johnson unwaxed, and Butler unwaxed. Each participant was given a toothbrush and some quantity of the floss being tested. The patients were then scored for gingivitis and plaque at 0, 28, and 56 day intervals (Lamberts, Wunderlich, & Caffesse, 1982). The results were analyzed using analysis of variance. The authors established that there was no statistical variation among the four different types of floss concerning the removal of plaque and prevention of gingivitis.
Article 2
Title: Patient preference for waxed or unwaxed dental floss
Research question: What is the patient preference between waxed and unwaxed dental floss?
Findings: 79 percent of the patients preferred waxed floss, while 21 percent preferred unwaxed floss.
Summary
One hundred random patients attending routine dental examinations voluntarily accepted to take part in the study, whose objective was to establish whether they preferred waxed or unwaxed floss. Firstly, the patients flossed a posterior and anterior contact area with both types of floss before answering questions related to their flossing habits. Beaumont (1990) established that 79 percent of the patients preferred waxed floss while 21 percent preferred unwaxed floss. To countercheck the study, and additional 50 patients were introduced to a different brand of waxed and unwaxed floss in a similar way. In this sample, 22 percent preferred the unwaxed type while 78 percent preferred the waxed. The final sample of 50 subjects compared mint flavored waxed floss to plain waxed floss but of the same brand. According to the results, 56 percent of participants preferred mint flavored waxed floss compared to 24 percent that preferred the plain waxed floss, while 20 percent did not have any preference. Besides, 57.5 percent of the patients purchased waxed floss for home use compared to 32 percent of those who bought unwaxed loss and 10.5 percent of those who bought neither type.
Article 3
Title: Plaque removal efficacy of four types of dental floss
Research question: Which type of dental floss is the most effective for removal of plaque?
Findings: All the four different types of floss being tested in combination with a manual toothbrush removed plaque much better than in the use of the toothbrush alone.
Summary
The study examined the removal of plaque in 25 participants using a manual toothbrush alone and in combination with four floss products, which included traditional (woven, unwaxed, and shred-resistant), and a powered flosser. The plaque score was recorded before and after brushing for one minute. In regard to the results, the mean plaque reduction for the toothbrush alone was 0.181 (Terézhalmy, Bartizek, & Biesbrock, 2008). For the unwaxed, woven, and shred-resistant flosses, the scores were 0.228, 0.217, and 0.210 respectively. For the powered flosser, the score was 0.252. These flosses were used in combination with the toothbrush. Evidently, there are no significant differences among the three traditional floss treatments. However, all the four floss treatments portrayed higher means of plaque removal compared to the manual toothbrush alone.
In conclusion, although in Beaumont’s (1990) study, the participants preferred waxed floss to clean their teeth over unwaxed floss, it emerges that both types of floss serve the same purpose and none is superior over the other in terms of cleaning the teeth. Most people prefer waxed floss mainly because it slides easily between close teeth but it does not have a more superior effect than unwaxed floss. Similarly, some people prefer unwaxed floss because it is thin. Nevertheless, there is no significant differences between the two types of floss, hence individuals can use either.
References
Beaumont, R. H. (1990). Patient preference for waxed or unwaxed dental floss. Journal of periodontology , 61 (2), 123-125.
Lamberts, D. M., Wunderlich, R. C., & Caffesse, R. G. (1982). The Effect of Waxed and Unwaxed Dental Floss on Gingival Health: Part I. Plaque Removal and Gingival Response. Journal of periodontology , 53 (6), 393-396.
Terézhalmy, G. T., Bartizek, R. D., & Biesbrock, A. R. (2008). Plaque ‐ removal efficacy of four types of dental floss. Journal of periodontology , 79 (2), 245-251.
