Minimal changes in daily flossing behavior among US adults from 2009 through 2020

Background

Flossing is considered to be an integral component of oral hygiene. The authors evaluated trends in daily flossing and their associations with sociodemographic variables.

Methods

The authors used data from the 2009-2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, accounting for survey weights in all analyses. Descriptive statistics were computed for all study variables. Pooled univariable and multivariable logistic regression were performed to evaluate which sociodemographic factors were associated with daily flossing and to assess potential interactions with survey periods. Multivariable logistic regression was performed and stratified according to survey period.

Results

This study included 26,624 adults. Although the prevalence of daily flossing increased from 29.4% in 2009 through 2010 to 34.8% in 2017 through 2020, this increase was not significant after multivariable adjustment. Results of the pooled survey logistic regression also showed that participants who were older, female, Hispanic, and had a higher income to poverty ratio had higher odds of daily flossing. The interaction between education and survey period was significantly associated with daily flossing (P = .012). Logistic regression for each survey period corroborated the pooled model results.

Conclusions

Approximately 1 in 3 adults in the United States reported flossing daily (32.7%). Although the prevalence of daily flossing increased from 2009 through 2020, this change was not significant after controlling for sociodemographic variables.

Practical Implications

The nonsignificant changes in flossing behavior from 2009 through 2020 suggest that messaging to encourage adults to floss daily has had little effect. Although the authors did not elucidate the benefits of flossing, dental providers should continue to consider encouraging patients to floss until new evidence suggests otherwise.