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[-] Catoblepas 110 points 2 months ago

They don’t do that if you floss daily, barring gum disease. Once you start it’s going to feel gross to not do it daily.

[-] xylol@leminal.space 44 points 2 months ago

But then your teeth end up looking like this instead of nicely packed in with plaque

[-] Catoblepas 13 points 2 months ago

I love a Flapjack reference!

[-] iguessimlemming@lemmy.ml 22 points 2 months ago

Interdental brushes are the way! No more gum issues since I started, and one habit I'm proud I developed. I had an xray where they showed how much the bacteria had eaten away at my roots - scared straight.

[-] protogen420 13 points 2 months ago

doesnt fit in between my teeth at all

[-] iguessimlemming@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 months ago

Mine are pretty damn tight too but with the thinnest brush eventually it worked, and felt less and less disturbing. It's the gap by the gums you need to reach, not between the teeth themselves. For that I floss. I try to alternate the two, but it's really more about the gum area.

[-] heartSagan5@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 months ago

Well, yeah. That’s the nookie for all the plaque to evade the brush.

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[-] arctanthrope@lemmy.world 62 points 2 months ago

I've often imagined a little comic strip where a dentist goes to the doctor. the doctor draws blood for tests, or gives an injection, or just pokes/cuts the dentist for no reason. the doctor then says "you're bleeding because you don't shower enough"

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[-] MJKee9@lemmy.world 45 points 2 months ago

Too many folks ITT with bad oral hygiene. Brush your teeth twice a day and floss at least once a day. I grew up in a very poor area and seeing sick folks who also had rotten and missing teeth made me realize how much dental health is connected with someone's overall health.

[-] JamesBoeing737MAX@sopuli.xyz 7 points 2 months ago

Fuck it I'm not flossing daily. It's annoying enough to occasionally clean my braces.

I actually get nauseous while touching the inside of my mouth with a toothbrush (or when standing for too long, so that problem might be exclusive to me).

I'd rather just kill myself than have to brush more than two times a day and floss regularly.

[-] hovercat 7 points 2 months ago

If you have braces you really should have a water flosser. I'm kind of surprised your ortho didn't recommend one, as mine made it a requirement

[-] Gold_E_Lox@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 months ago

im so upset mine broke recently, my god it feels good, and quick and easy!

[-] JamesBoeing737MAX@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 months ago

Well, they just recommended two different toothbrushes and a specialized toothpick. It takes ~40 mins to clean it all with a toothpick. So I just do it before my appointment. But at least I brush them semi regularly.

And yes, I do have tartar in some places, I just can't clean and would probably also have it if I regularly took care of my teeth.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 2 months ago

also electric toothbrush is useful too, sonic and rotating.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 2 months ago

there are interdental floss, which are designed for braces. water flosser helps,dislodge food, but you need an actual floss to prevent tartar.

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[-] SupremeDonut@lemmy.ml 35 points 2 months ago

Why is there so many of these backwards ass medical memes on here today? This one came from another post

[-] CybranM@feddit.nu 31 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

This is one of few memes i really dislike. It is true, if you floss or use interdental brushes your gums wont bleed.

It's such an easy thing you can test for yourself I'm kind of surprised so many people don't understand that it works. Do you also ignore the advice you get from doctors?

[-] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

80% of US doctors don't know basic anatomy (a statistic i derived from the medical CPEs i taught), so yes I generally do ignore advice they give

[-] manuremy@sopuli.xyz 5 points 2 months ago

Last time I went to dentist, at first everything was okay and I even got compliments on how clean my mouth was. Then I got stabbed by a needle to a gum and then yelled at for not flossing. Later on the dentist found the stabbing wound she did and apologised, yet kept on telling me to just go deeper with the floss, that there must be a hidden infection deeper down and I should not care about pain or floss cuts. Bad, bad advice.

I didn't change shit. My gums don't bleed UNLESS THEY GET STABBED.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 2 months ago

lol that is lawsuit waiting to happened, if that had caused a abscessed blood infection. i wouldnt be surprised if thier yelp reviews had something similar on it from other patients.

[-] manuremy@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 months ago

No Yelps here, just the public dentist at my local health center, and the only one at that. I can't afford to go private yay. (Not free, definitely not free this one either.)

[-] psud@aussie.zone 3 points 1 month ago

Also if you consume no sugars

[-] Thadden@lemmy.world 28 points 2 months ago

Reminds me of this comic!

[-] mmmm@sopuli.xyz 21 points 2 months ago

My wisdom teeth were growing sideways without me realizing for 29 years of my life so they had to be removed. They appointed me to this dentist that told me since they were so big and doing so much presure against the other teeth they had to be sliced up in pieces so she could extract them piece by piece.

This girl did put so much force and did so much pressurre against my jaw it dislocated and I felt like she was tearing it apart from my skull. I put my fist below it but felt like she was about to sink it in my chest. Did some mumbling due to the pain and discomfort (and because I was a bit scared too) and she had the audacity to, basically, call me a pussy.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

i had a oral surgeon remove 2 of my bottom ones. i prefer those over a dentist. better safe then sorry.

[-] 0x0@infosec.pub 2 points 2 months ago

Without knowing if youve had other teeth pulled its hard to decide if shes right or not

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[-] Float@startrek.website 19 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

"your teeths enamel is so important for dental health! That's why I'm going to have this bored 23 year old woman scratch the fuck out of your teeth so they develop cavities later!"

[-] Bonus@mander.xyz 15 points 2 months ago

(Jams sharp objects into gums)

You have some sensitivity caused by not flossing!

[-] devaly@ani.social 10 points 2 months ago

They are gaslighting you to justify them sucking at their job

[-] Beehaw_Girl@beehaw.org 9 points 2 months ago

Also last time I was at a dentist appointment check out when I told the lady I didn't have insurance I'll never forget the look of disgust she gave me. Is that because they get more money from insurance companies than they get from people who pay out of pocket? They charge higher prices to insured people, right?

[-] Cypher@aussie.zone 7 points 2 months ago

You gave her the poor person ick

[-] Beehaw_Girl@beehaw.org 3 points 2 months ago

If I was poor how do you think I was able to pay out of pocket? I just didn't have dental insurance because I didn't have a job (which is the only way US citizens can get healthcare) because I had enough money that I didn't need a job.

[-] Cypher@aussie.zone 3 points 2 months ago

I’m not saying it makes sense just explaining the reaction.

[-] Beehaw_Girl@beehaw.org 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Well then I should've given HER the "poor person ick face" right back because that poor lady had to sit there working a pathetic job all day 🤣

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

they assume you wont agree to more procedures down the line or pay more? it its a double edge sword.

i saw a dentist recently out of pocket for emergency tooth pain, it costed 270 for a limited exam on those teeth(not whole mouth). then they try to convince me to do a full cleaning and exam for more twice that much. there are dentist that arnt charging that amount out of pocket. just got google around look at yelp reviews(helpful in looking at seedy dentists, or low cost). dental school/universities are a thing but i noticed they take a very long time to even onboard you, so its not all that useful in the end(especially needed something like cavity filling or more extreme extraction/root canals.) i currently have that same tooth that is much more sensitive than before but they arnt interested in investigating further since it failed the cold test(they apply something cold on the surface of the teeth to determine which one illicit a painful sensitivity response)

also certain insurance might not be accepted by different dentists too.

[-] captain_solanum@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 months ago

Let he who flosses each and every day poke the first gum!

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

some dentist are scammy asf, a notable one in our area just tries to peddle DEEP CLEANING solely and others, tyring to peddle expensive procedures. i also bought back teeth flosser for molars, which the sideways one are not good at, very useful.

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[-] wander1236@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago

What dentists are y'all going to?

[-] starlinguk@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Ones that don't whittle on about flossing. In fact, one told me he preferred it if people didn't because they were just pushing bacteria into their gums.

[-] TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today 25 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Don't go back to that dentist..... There's a ton of research that proves flossing works as intended. Bacteria are really small, they don't need assistance to go into your gums. The point of flossing is that it removes the food and biofilm that gets stuck between teeth that bacteria feed upon and multiply.

[-] MoffKalast@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It definitely at least stops plaque from forming, which otherwise irritates the gums so they eventually recede. Some people somehow just don't get plaque for some reason so in that case it's maybe pointless, but most people do.

It is funny though how dentists still feel closer to some kind of village shaman. Each performing their weird rituals, absolutely convinced that they're correct and all others are clearly wrong. Probably because they're not actual doctors and also happen to have a horrible monetary conflict of interest to let people have terrible teeth.

[-] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Some people somehow just don't get plaque for some reason so in that case it's maybe pointless, but most people do.

Brushing twice a day, properly (with good toothpaste and a good electric toothbrush) basically eliminates the need for flossing.

EDIT: ITT, people who don't realize flossing is terribly ineffective and hasn't been recommended by the US government for a decade now, because studies showed that the floss wire doesn't provide enough friction to actually effectively clean anything. If you find that despite thorough brushing you still build up plaque, occasionally use a toothpick instead.

[-] Trail@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago
[-] MoffKalast@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Nope, not even with an electric one. It doesn't get into the areas between the teeth at all if you're using it at intended pressures.

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[-] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Whoa. Citations on this? I rememberJeff Donn did an expose on this released by the AP in 2016 and it turns out that there really wasn't good quality data on flossing at all. Has this changed since then?

[-] TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today 3 points 2 months ago

Here ya go.

Determining what is and isn't quality data is kinda open to semantic interpretation. The reason there isn't a huge study like what you see with cancer or heart disease is because something like flossing is dependent on accurate and honest self reporting from participants. And it's not exactly something you can really tell if your participants are being diligent or not at a large scale.

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[-] LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 5 points 2 months ago

lol bad dentist. Flossing is the only thing that has stopped my teeth from falling apart. Went from a cavity or root canal every couple years to near perfect checkups time after time. I brushed before, too.

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[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

you are probably flossing it wrong, you arnt suppose to jam it into the gums that will cause erosions and bleeding, and potential infection. also just move it from side to side once, not SAW it like you are sawing wood. depending on which flosser you are using. you do and "up and down motion"

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 2 months ago

tooth extraction is pretty archiac.

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this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2026
644 points (100.0% liked)

Science Memes

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