Woven Dental Floss
How is it Different?

Woven dental floss is a type of floss that has the fibers braided or woven together. The best example as Oral B Ultra floss, which unfortunately has been discontinued. The unique construction gives woven or braided floss a different texture and feel to the more widely-known floss or tape.

Now discontinued Oral B Ultrafloss

Braided floss has a softer feel to it, and is more flexible. If you pull it tight, it gets a bit thinner. That textured surface makes it easier to grip around your fingers. It doesn't slip out so much!

Woven Dental Floss

This softness is supposed to be more gentle on sensitive gums. The many interwoven fibers also seem to be able to trap more plaque. But I haven't seen any scientific evidence that proves this!

NOTE; A woven dental floss is NOT the best option for you if you have problems with floss shredding or snagging between your teeth. In this case, you would be better with a floss like Oral B ProExpert.

HOWEVER, it is definitely worth your while to use floss of any type. Recent research from 2019 shows a clear link between gum disease and Alzheimers disease.

By reducing inflammation in your gums, you are reducing the risk of gum disease, and therefore reducing your risk of developing Alzheimers! (According to New Scientist, August 14, 2019).

So is woven dental floss better than normal floss?

Not necessarily! It depends on how you use it, and how tightly your teeth contact each other. Many of my patients prefer the way a waxed floss or Oral B Glide floss slips easily between the teeth. They find that braided floss tends to get stuck in their teeth, becoming shredded.

Oral B ProExpert

On the other hand, there ARE a significant number of my patients who like the feel of a woven floss. They find that they can get it to slip between their teeth easily enough, especially if they pull it really tight to get it thinner.

Once they've got it between a couple of teeth, they like the softer feel of the woven floss on the gums, and also say that the woven texture of the braided floss "scrubs" the tooth surface better than normal floss.

Woven floss can be more difficult to find in supermarkets and pharmacies. It IS a bit easier to find online, but this adds the cost of mailing. I find that my patients who like woven floss are quite happy to pay a little more! They usually stock up by ordering 5 or 10 packets at once to minimize the extra postal costs.

The only way to find out if you like it is to give it a try! You'll need to track it down locally or order it online. At the moment, the GUM expanding Floss is usually the easiest to find. Then have a trial run. Just click on the GUM text link above or the image below to get a good deal at Amazon.

I have also found that the Wisdom Mintburst floss behaves like a woven floss after it gets wet. When you first pull a section of this floss out of the packet, it feels like a slightly thicker normal floss. But it doesn't look like a woven floss -

- until it gets wet.

Wisdom Mintburst - behaves like a woven floss

Once you have flossed a few teeth, and the Wisdom Mintburst has got wet, you'll notice that it has expanded slightly. If you pull on the floss, it 'gives' like a piece of elastic, and becomes thinner. When you relax the tension on the floss, it expands again and becomes slightly 'woolly'.

The way to use this floss is to pull it tight to make it thinner as it goes between your teeth, then relax the tension to allow it to expand as it goes under the gum edge slightly, to collect and trap plaque more efficiently.

Order your Wisdom Mintburst expanding floss by clicking on the text link, or on the image below, for a great price at Amazon.

Woven dental floss has a very different feel to it compared to conventional floss. You'll either love it or hate it! But it's definitely worth the time and trouble to find out.