As dentists, we have nagged a plenty about the need to floss consistently, but our choice of floss may need to be given some serious thought. There are many different kind of floss out there to choose from, and I find that one of the most popular is Glide. To be honest with you, I find Glide to be a great product, when it comes to it functionality, but I have one real BIG problem with it also. Glide is a Teflon tape, not an actual floss, that is why it works so well. Now the problem is that Teflon doesn't biodegrade at all.
Now one would think, what effect can a small piece of floss have on the environment? That is a valid question, but now take into consideration the popularity of Glide. That's a lot of non biodegrading strips of tape that get thrown out everyday, to just sit there and release PTFE (toxic stuff ) into the environment.
I'm not writing this as a critique on Glide, but only so that consumers can have a bit of education on how things affect the planet, and make their own assumptions regarding their choice of floss.
Hey, I want you all to get busy and start flossing, but let's not strangle the Earth with a non disappearing noose, 18 inches at a time.
Charles Cuprill, DMD
www.orlandoteeth.com
