“Dental floss causes cancer.” No, it does not. The industry of publications and pseudo-science researchers that fill the inter-webs have come up with a new frightening study. If you’ve seen the articles about the latest thing that causes cancer, we hope we can set you at ease.  If you care about the science behind fake health news, keep reading.

Everyone from the content team a the job site “The Ladders” to “FoxNews” and “Daily Mail”  picked-up on the new study about dental floss causing cancer. “Restricting these chemicals from products should be a priority to reduce levels in people’s bodies,” reads the Daily Mail article. Fox News reports, “According to a study conducted by the Silent Spring Institute and Public Health Institute in Berkeley, the popular Oral-B Glide floss may be exposing you to elevated levels of toxic chemicals.” Anyone reading one of these stories could begin to wonder whether it was safe to use dental floss. It sure sounds like all of us might be at risk for cancer from just flossing. And the risk sounds pretty big. However, SurvivorNet has some good news for you and your dentist. Keep flossing. The study has serious problems.

Problem #1: Study was small.

178 people provided the sample blood tests. But it’s not just a small size of the study. There’s also a problem with who was studied. It was all women, all middle aged, all living in California, about half white and half black.

The study includes some types of cancer in a list of tested effects for a chemical called PFAS. “Exposure to the long-chain PFASs perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) has been linked to kidney and testicular cancer,” claimed the study. The only problem is, the study didn’t include men. It’s hard to understand how a study of chemicals found in women applies to people at risk of testicular cancer.

The link of PFAS  to kidney cancer is also effected by the sample, which takes a very specific set of women. Because the sample is very small group of women living in California, the results that come from the study may not reflect the results that might occur in a study of larger proportions and that might including different variables like lifestyle, diet and health.

Problem #2: Study didn’t prove dental floss causes cancer.

The study’s main thrust is that PFAS is linked to cancer. And it suggests that products that result in PFAS increases in the blood stream, might increase cancer risk.

This was not a study that found any direct evidence of dental floss in cancer patients. In fact, the women studied are not identified anywhere in the study as cancer patients. What it did identify is that  flossing with Oral-B Glide was associated with 24% higher levels of PFAS. It’s important to note that the increase in PFAS in Oral-B Glide users is not necessarily causal.  We don’t have enough information to know for sure that dental floss itself causing the increase.

Problem #3: Finding of risk was statistically questionable.

Statisticians have a way of measuring the precision of a finding. The more precise, the surer they are that a finding is on target. The less precise, the more they question whether the study is giving us an accurate picture. That statistical measure in this study was very imprecise and means that the risk could be as high as 56% or as low as .2%.

If you find that you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Dr. Joy Lunan’s dental office located in Middlebury, CT. 203-598-7920

www.middleburydentist.com