“What happens if you never floss?”

You could develop gum disease between your teeth and lose bone

Please floss at least once at night! If you don't, the bacteria will feed off the food particles that are stuck between your teeth and will produce a waste called plaque, which is very acidic, and soon you develop cavities between your teeth.

Caries can happen and gum disease

Probably lose your teeth, or at least get painful gum disease, then lose your teeth.....!!!!

The saying goes "you only need to floss the teeth you want to keep." Cleaning our mouth is a matter of disrupting the bacterial film that forms on our teeth before it can erode the enamel and cause damage. The large smooth surfaces of our teeth, when aligned properly, are kept fairly clean simply by the actions of our tongue and cheeks through talking, chewing, etc. The crevices and areas where food and bacteria can get trapped or be protected from disruption are where cavities are most likely to form. Brushing or using a water flosser at the gum line helps reduce the damage there but a tooth brush will only reach so far between the teeth. That is where floss comes in. By sliding the floss along the tooth surfaces between the teeth the bacteria is disrupted before it can cause damage. If you never floss, you simply increase the odds of getting cavities between your teeth.

You will usually get cavities in between your teeth and gum disease. If you don’t floss, you’re not cleaning 50% of your teeth.

Thanks,

Dr. Price

Hello,

The consequences to never flossing is the reason why dentist recommend flossing. Flossing removes plaque and food particles from between teeth. There are two main issues that can happen without flossing; periodontal disease and cavities.
Periodontal disease (periodontitis) results from an accumulation of plaque between the teeth. Plaque is made up of bateria, saliva, DNA, sugars, proteins, etc. At some point the bacteria will take over and cause an accumulation of plaque and calculus (hardened plaque) on the teeth which will cause the gums (gingiva) to recede. If this recession happens long enough the tooth will get loose and in some cases fall out. This process is not something that can be reversed (once it starts receding there is not a lot that can be done about it).
Cavities do not wait as long as periodontal disease to start causing problems. The reason why the dentist takes "check up x-rays" is to see between the teeth and see if there are any cavities forming there. Yes cavities can form between the teeth, and they do not take as long as periodontitis to cause a problem.
Of course not everyone goes through one or both of these issues. However, you never can tell who is going to have one or both of these problems. Hope this helps.

My best to you!

William F. Scott IV, DMD

Cavities. Gum disease.

Can lead to poor oral hygiene, unhealthy gums, cavities, bad breath, etc