Dental floss can cause cancer
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Perhaps, we expose ourselves to the effects of carcinogens precisely in those moments when we seem to take care of our own health. Dental thread, experts believe, can cause cancer eventually.
When we talk about limiting contact with plastic, and even completely exclude it from our lives, the question of oral hygiene at this time is unlikely to come to our mind. We are thinking about plastic bottles with water and food products in plastic packages. But a plastic that is dangerous to health is also abundant in conventional dental floss.
Once upon a time, a dental floss was made from a conventional thread, treated with wax. It was wax that was the key ingredient, as it helped the threads to slide between the teeth more freely. This is especially important for those people who have this space is quite close. But there was plastic, amazing imagination with its versatility and low cost. And today is very likely that the dental floss in your bathroom is not covered with wax, but with perfluorinated polymer (PFP).
The same coating, available in a frying pan, is known as Teflon. It does not allow food to burn during frying. PFP is found in the coatings of some packages for fast food products. The main problem with this substance is that it does not stick to the thread. With friction between teeth, the PFT flakes off and the moves go straight to our body.
Perfluorinated polymers are not only carcinogenic, which threatens the development of cancer. They also damage the immune system and negatively affect the hormonal level. Of course, the amount of PFP that we get after using dental floss is still negligible, and is unlikely to pose a health hazard. But these substances, unfortunately, have the properties of "sticking" to the body and accumulating. And if you use "plastic" threads long enough, this, in the end, can end sadly.