The effectiveness of 3 types of dental floss for interdental plaque removal

Abstract

The relative effectiveness of waxed dental floss, dental tape and Superfloss as proximal plaque removal aids were compared in 20 subjects. Each subject used each of the three interdental aids for 1 week. The order of use was randomly selected. Interdental plaque scores were recorded at baseline, weeks 1, 2 and 3. At the end of week 3, subjects answered a questionnaire to ascertain their subjective responses to the 3 types of dental floss they had used. The use of all 3 types of dental floss resulted in significant improvement in interproximal plaque scores compared to baseline scores. Improvement in plaque scores, in decreasing order were: dental tape, dental floss and Superfloss. Dental tape was significantly more efficient than Superfloss (p = 0.003). There were no significant differences observed between the effectiveness of dental tape and waxed floss (p = 0.059), and waxed dental floss and Superfloss (p = 0.143). Regardless of the type of dental floss used, patients removed plaque more efficiently from buccal interproximal areas compared to lingual/palatal interproximal areas (p < 0.001) and from anterior teeth than posterior teeth (p < 0.001). Subjective responses indicated that 50% of subjects preferred dental tape, 40% waxed dental floss and only 10% preferred Superfloss.