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What plant could I grow in my yard to use as dental floss?

 
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Yesterday I read an article about how Oral B Glide dental floss is coated in PFASs (think Teflon) that makes the dental floss slippery. A recent study (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-018-0109-y) in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology found a link between using this floss and the presence of PFASs in the body. It made me so mad because I am very careful about examining the ingredients in all the healthcare products I use, but I had never even considered evaluating the ingredients in dental floss. I was making my own soap and lotion and deodorant, only to find out that I've been flossing my teeth with a carcinogen.

Today I've been thinking about alternatives to store bought dental floss. Obviously I could use a different brand, but then I went down the rabbit hole of wondering why do I need all that plastic packaging? Why am I putting gobs of string in landfills every year? Why am I spending money on SKINNY STRING? I don't know why I've never questioned it before.

So now I am wondering if there is a plant you could grow in your yard that would consistently produce long, thin fibers. I figure a person could coat it in beeswax if needed. Then after you floss, you could simply toss it in your compost pile or even just your yard. Optimally this plant would not require excessive processing to turn into floss, and would produce consistently thin fibers. Does anyone have any ideas?
 
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I have some lace weight linen thread that might be appropriate.  Raven (one of our moderators) has a lot of posts about growing linen.  You missed the kickstarter for her book that covers every step from growing the flax to weaving the cloth, but I believe it will soon be available through other means.
 
Audrey Lewis
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Ooh, good suggestion. I did not know anything about linen before researching it just now. Very interesting!
 
Audrey Lewis
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There is a store near me in Frankfort, Kentucky, called The Woolery (https://woolery.com). They sell linen fiber (they call it flax). Next time I'm in Frankfort I'll swing by, pick some up, and see if I think it has any potential. If it doesn't work as dental floss, I'd still have fun trying to spin it into yarn. I talked to a worker there on the phone. She said that out of all the fibers they sell, she suspects the flax would work the best as floss. If it actually works I'll probably plant some. Thanks again for the suggestion!
 
pollinator
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Another you might try is nettle. There's lots on this site about nettle, and from what I understand, the processing shares commonalities across many different types of plant fibre.

You could also think about perennials that grow sweet, fibrous twigs. I know spruce is a favourite in some parts of the world, or it used to be in the days before tooth brushes and floss. Just snap off a twig and chew the broken end.

Honestly, flossing shouldn't really be necessary. I never did, and rarely do now, and all the dentist said when I finally found one I liked was that I had great teeth, negative decay (?), but that my gums need attention. Between paying more attention to my gumline and rinsing with salt and soda in water, I have reversed the damage in under a year. For me, the only time I need it is to resolve physical discomfort caused by, usually, popcorn hulls stuck between teeth or under the gum.

But let us know how things go for you. I'm sure this is right up the alley of a lot of people on this site. Good luck.

-CK
 
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I kind of freaked out, too, when I realized most floss is coated with teflon. THere are still some coated with wax (though the wax is probably mostly petrolum-based).

The floss I now buy (Dr. Tung's Smart Floss) is made with plant fibers and coated with beeswax. I don't like that it's packaged in plastic, but at least the plastic isn't touching my mouth. I think there's also a silk floss out there, somewhere, but I can't remember what it's called (I just remember it was really expensive).

As for needing or not needing floss, I think it might depend largely on one's diet and the closeness of one's teeth. I have a tiny mouth and my teeth are all crammed together (despite orthodontia AND having two adult teeth pulled), so if I don't floss, my gums suffer and I have stuff stuck between my teeth, which just isn't pleasant.

I think it's far better to grow/make one's own floss...but right now I barely have time to floss, let alone make it. Hopefully in a few years, when my kids are a bit older, I can try doing that!
 
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I take dental hygiene very seriously so was frustrated a few years ago when they questioned what I was using for floss at my cleaning appointment.  Turns out there was a general consensus that Glide floss feels nice but is ineffective.  I switched to an unwaxed kind that then stopped being made. Since then I also switched to Dr Tungs and like it. You can get a big box through Amazon.

I also need to floss because of my some unique spaces but going whole food plant based generally made my teeth very clean. Now at my cleanings we spend more time talking after she tells me she doesn't feel like she is doing much. 😊 ( I am going to watch longer between visits now.)

Sorry no suggestions on plants for this.
 
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My teeth are real close together so I have to have something thin.  I have used thread and it works well.

I heard of a women who used her hair to floss.

 
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I bet yucca would work very well. It separates into pretty tuff threads. Easily wild harvested rather than growing it.
 
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Grow your hair long and use it. Double strands work best.
 
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wayne fajkus wrote:I bet yucca would work very well. It separates into pretty tuff threads. Easily wild harvested rather than growing it.



Easily harvested wild... if you live where it grows. Plenty of it in the Southwest US, and also in the southern part of the US Eastern seaboard and some of the Sandhills region of the Carolinas. Not too sure you'd find much of it in the wetter or colder places.

I don't think I've seen it in the Dominican Republic either, which is odd, because we have cactus deserts not too far from the rainforests. Next time I'm in the deserts, I will look more carefully.
 
Chris Kott
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Or mulberry trees. Some processing required. By silkworms.

Seriously, you could probably use raw silk.

-CK
 
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I know spruce is a favourite in some parts of the world, or it used to be in the days before tooth brushes and floss.



Definitely the old fashioned way. It's still taught in wilderness survival schools. It works quite well.


Attended a bee class last year related to dental health. It was mind boggling. The before & after pix were incredible. Tried to find the most unbiased reference to present here about bee propolis toothpaste.
 
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the silk floss works good but it frays and tears easily on my sorta crowded front teeth. I have been flossing a lot less since switching to using miswak (roots from the peelu tree) all the time. If you take the time to brush really well the fibers feel like they get in between the teeth really well and push out all kinds of stuff. It is also supposed to add things to your saliva that make it better able to predigest food which makes it get stuck less and come out from between teeth easier. You can get them for like 80 cents a piece on amazon and a single root will last for around am month.
 
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Sounds like a nature walk might be in order.  Wander around and see what naturally grows in your area that could serve the purpose.

Something tough and stringy like a palm frond or even tough grass might be good.

Alternatively we could take walk back through history.
Arak root was popular as a natural toothbrush well as many other datun or "chewing sticks" used the world over.
 
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A friend of mine said he used strands of his wife's long thick hair.

Wouldn't work for me, with tightly packed teeth with wider gaps near the gums. I sometimes break even commercial floss. Personally I like the Ultra Floss from Oral-B, which is fuzzy and thick, and gets thin when you pull it down between those tight gaps.

I am not happy when I don't have floss available, especially if I've eaten meat, leafy veggies, or the worst is seafood for some reason. I've had weekend trips where I forgot to bring floss, and believe me, some painful little bits can stay in there for days.
 
Audrey Lewis
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Thank you guys for all these suggestions. This is giving me some floss ideas to investigate.
 
pollinator
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Maybe New Zealand Flax? (different from the flax that linen is made from)

It is grown as an ornamental in many places around the US, especially in commercial landscaping.
 
pollinator
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I don't know if you can grow but I was biting into some ripe mango pits the other day. The fibers attached to the pit went in between my teeth. They even broke some teeth plaque.

It is annoying though while the fibers stuck in between your teeth, but they go away after a while or with the help of a toothpick.
 
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I once found silk dental floss at the health food store, and bought it. It was thinner than the conventional dental floss I am used to, and so I did double it up, using two strands at once. It did tend to fray going through the tight spaces between my teeth but I was able to get the job done.

Funny thing though, on the same shelf, next to the silk dental floss in a plastic box was some conventional fiber floss in a cardboard box.  I really wished for the silk floss in the cardboard box…..
 
pollinator
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I prefer to use waterpik machine with some iodine added.
 
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This doesn't answer the OP's question about growing something, but since some reading this thread might be looking for something to buy I'll share what I use. Etee brand floss is made from mulberry silk and is sold in spools that you pop into a tiny glass jar with a screw-on metal lid with just the right holes to dispense and cut (you buy the jar once, the first time.)  The refill spools come in a paperboard box. I have a few tight spaces between teeth and it mostly does not fray on those (I just have to use a fresh segment in those spaces and it's fine, no fraying.) Since I floss in the bathroom, when I'm done it goes into the compost toilet.
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Just use unwaxed floss. The wax or teflon just lets the floss glide over the gunk it's supposed to be removing anyway
 
pollinator
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Yikes! Teflon?! are you sure? As a water officer in my town, I had no idea. Here, our groundwater is often polluted with nitrates and I started raising the alarm about all the PFOs, PFOAs etc. that we have allowed in our lives without knowing. I will be sure to raise the issue with my dentist. I have an appointment with her this Thursday. (Perhaps uncoated floss is the way to go in the meantime).
There are folks who make beautiful beadwork with beads they hold together with silk. They sell the silk thread in lengths of 200 yards. that should be enough to last me quite a while:
https://www.firemountaingems.com/itemdetails/H205196BS?gclid=CjwKCAiA5Y6eBhAbEiwA_2ZWIcX19b4NpNp2_PGDZxwMCu2A8dtndpuFk8eTZ6vmqmG8XTfz3NvuHBoCC4AQAvD_BwE
At $11.46 for 200 yards, that isn't very pricey [0.04 cents per yard]
Besides this, I think that it would be a great market for hemp. The hemp fiber is strong enough to be used like this and perhaps we could grow this marketable and profitable crop, while we are waiting for the clothing industry to start selling American made clothing. We would at least have the thread.
 
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I recently learned about horsetail (Equisetum Hyemale) and the wonderful things it can do for teeth. I immediately ordered a start and it is crazy easy to grow too. I have it in my greenhouse and use it to drain the hose pipes after use so it stays very damp. I was warned that it is extremely invasive so I have it in a half barrel sized pot. The shoots are tough and stringy so I wonder if they would also work well for floss. I powder it and use it for toothpaste.
 
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Casie Becker wrote:I have some lace weight linen thread that might be appropriate.  Raven (one of our moderators) has a lot of posts about growing linen.  You missed the kickstarter for her book that covers every step from growing the flax to weaving the cloth, but I believe it will soon be available through other means.

 
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I have had success trialing individual cabbage tree fibres (ti kouka; Cordyline australis). The individual fibres are stronger and more water resistant than New Zealand flax fibres, and the trees are everywhere here. It's in the agave family, so I suspect that related plants (Joshua tree, agave, yucca, etc) are also likely candidates.
 
Anne Miller
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A lot of good plant ideas.  My first though was nettles and then milkweed.

Another solution: bamboo.
 
pollinator
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Here's an article that attempts to neutralize this 4-year old thread's claim that floss is harmful.  

webpage



 
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A nice summary to that linked article: "As far as flossing goes, the evidence is clear that it improves dental health so I’ll keep flossing without worrying about the type of floss I use."

This comes off to me as tinted with narcissism. It sounds like something from an agenda by corporate apologists attempting to throw the burden of proof that the PFAS, which are the subject of much research as likely carcinogenic and leading to other health problems, is linked to some given consumer product in a particular usage mode.

This thread gives ample examples of means to meet the same dental health goals without rewarding industrialists for exposing workers to more carcinogens and dumping more chemical junk into the waste stream of our common environment.
 
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Coydon Wallham wrote:A nice summary to that linked article: "As far as flossing goes, the evidence is clear that it improves dental health so I’ll keep flossing without worrying about the type of floss I use."

This comes off to me as tinted with narcissism. It sounds like something from an agenda by corporate apologists attempting to throw the burden of proof that the PFAS, which are the subject of much research as likely carcinogenic and leading to other health problems, is linked to some given consumer product in a particular usage mode.



Yes, I hate that dismissive, false dilemma tone.  It is always employed in response to criticisms of industrial technology to make people feel like the only alternative to the toxic, environmentally degrading product is to give up oral hygiene/cleanliness/food production/travel/etc. altogether.
 
Thekla McDaniels
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Yep, that article raised my ire enough I didn’t read it all.

And all the while the plastic washes to the ocean, both from floss boxes and the conventional floss itself… and from pop bottles to poly tunnels

What a piece of work is (hu)man!  And while I am fault finding with that asinine article, I wonder what piece of idiocy I am not only complicit in, but actively promoting.

The only value I can ever find in human idiocy is a reminder that I personally have the same potential for idiocy, especially when wrapped in banners that appeal to me.

One of the many great functions of permies in many of our lives is encouraging our selves and each other to decreased idiocy on behalf of ease comfort ignorance and maybe even innocence!

Go permies!  rah!
 
Audrey Lewis
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I’m amused that the dental floss topic has come back to life after first posting it here four years ago! I’ve seen new ideas for plants I could grow and for products I could buy. It’s given me a lot to think about. Thank you everyone who has offered suggestions!
 
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I think there are enough issues with silk production that I wouldn't want to use that, even if I wasn't vegan.

In India, there are lots of bonded, Dalit children working in the industry, governed by poor safety practises. Burns from the steam and boiling water used in processing the cocoons are common.

Until the industry gets its energy use down (right now, a lot of energy is used in controlling temperature and humidity in facilities, among other things) I don't think it makes sense to use silk for single use applications. Some rankings show that it's worse than many synthetics as far as water and energy use go.

What about horse hair? If you know anyone with horses, it would be easy to get lots.
 
Thekla McDaniels
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Hmmmm, thanks Jan, I didn’t know that about silk production.

About horse hair, I know it wouldn’t work on my teeth, they press on each other, but I think many people could use it.  

Which led me to the conclusion that it’s probably an individualized question, depending on the shape of a person’s teeth, and their placement, and what they eat.

Mostly I use an oral irrigator.  Sometimes I make a custom tooth pick by breaking a splinter of wood just right.  A commercial toothpick is too fat, I have to break them into a long skinny splinter to get between my teeth.

I bought a dental tool package at one of the big name pharmacy chain stores, which included a stainless steel pick like the hygienist uses to clean my teeth, it’s good for getting shreds of meat out from where they lodge, and good for stirring up the biofilm (is that plaque, or is the hardened deposit plaque?) between my teeth.  

Seldom do I use dental floss, and that’s sure decrease after participating in this thread.
 
Anne Miller
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I use a Waterpik.

I find that flossing is still a necessity.

Back to the topic at hand:

What plant could I grow in my yard to use as dental floss?

I bet any plant that is grown for fiber.
 
Thekla McDaniels
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I have used any plant that makes woody twigs, and grass that makes fine hollow stems, as long as they aren’t allergenic.
 
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I seem to remember a guy named Frank Zappa started a dental floss farm...somewhere out west. Free range pygmy ponies running wild.

Now I have to find things to do with my oral b floss, maybe tie up tomatoes.



 
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And here I just brushed my donkeys today and when I brushed the tails I thought now this hair would be long enough for dental floss!
 
Thekla McDaniels
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Redd Hudson wrote:I seem to remember a guy named Frank Zappa started a dental floss farm...somewhere out west. Free range pygmy ponies running wild.

Now I have to find things to do with my oral b floss, maybe tie up tomatoes.




Make a lizard catching stick?
 
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