The question popped up earlier this year in a Reddit discussion on dental hygiene: Anyone notice that Oral-B floss suddenly seemed different?
“It feels more plastic-like, rougher, less smooth,” the Reddit user noted. Wrote another: “It feels like I’m going to take a tooth along with it when I pull it out.”
Some dental floss manufacturers have indeed been quietly moving away from the synthetic material PTFE, which helped their product slip smoothly between teeth. Their decisions follow studies raising concerns as well as consumer worries and state regulation of consumer products containing PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
PTFE — most famous for its brand name Teflon — falls under the PFAS category. Exposure to these per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds has been linked to adverse health effects that include a risk of certain cancers, reduced immune response and reproductive problems. Such risks have not been established specifically for PTFE.
Procter & Gamble is a manufacturer that recently made a switch, with senior communications director Jeffrey D. McDowell confirming by email that Oral-B Glide floss has been reformulated to remove both PTFE and PFAS.
Replacing them is a new “micro-textured fiber” made up of nylon and elastic materials. According to the company, this trademarked Pebax polymer is “used to reinforce the fiber and provide strength, durability, and handling performance.”
What does the research show?
A 2019 study by the Silent Spring Institute, an environmental health research organization based in Massachusetts, found that women who reported using Oral-B Glide had higher levels of PFHxS in their blood compared with women who didn’t use the floss. That synthetic compound is another forever chemical.
“We also found some other relationships,” senior scientist Laurel Schaider said in an interview. Among them: higher PFAS levels in the blood of individuals who had stain-resistant textiles in their home.
The institute worked with Graham Peaslee, a chemist and nuclear physicist at the University of Notre Dame, who analyzed samples of dental floss for the presence of fluorine — “the marker of Teflon,” as Schaider put it.
Researchers tested 18 floss products. Six were positive for fluorine, including all three Glide varieties, two store-brand products advertised as comparable to Glide and a Colgate floss marketed as “a single-strand Teflon fiber.”
While the researchers found an association between reported Glide use and elevated PFHxS levels, they did not establish the floss as the source. They also did not test specifically for PFHxS in the floss, though their work showed Glide contained fluorinated material that was consistent with PTFE.
“The correlation with PFHxS could be related to other behaviors that weren’t controlled in the study,” Peaslee said.
Colgate began eliminating PTFE from its dental floss in 2022, according to a statement provided to the Danish consumer organization Forbrugerrådet Tænk. The group had done its own testing and found multiple brands of floss contained PTFE with no disclosure of that on the packaging. Colgate cited consumer concerns as the reason for its decision, while maintaining that PTFE was “a safe ingredient in our dental floss.” It said both of its floss products would transition to PTFE-free fibers.
The changes in floss formulation come amid heightened scrutiny of ubiquitous forever chemicals. Multiple states now restrict them, with Minnesota last year banning the intentional addition of PFAS to 11 categories of consumer products. Dental floss was one of those.
What should consumers look for?
The American Dental Association deferred when asked what consumers should look for on floss packaging, including materials containing PTFE and PFAS. “Questions regarding the specific ingredients, materials or formulations used in individual dental products are best directed to the manufacturers,” the organization said in a statement.
Schaider, however, offered specifics. “I would certainly look for floss that is PTFE-free, and in terms of safer alternatives from a more sustainable point of view, something like a silk-based floss is more sustainable than nylon, which is a petroleum-based material,” she said.
Even if consumers have difficulty discerning chemicals in flossing products, the environmental scientist encourages people not to stop flossing.
“You should find a floss that works for you because it’s really important to floss,” Schaider said. “But for the marketplace, I want to make sure that the floss is as safe as it can be.”
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