My Dental Hygienist Called This the ‘Perfect Floss’ and It’s Sold Only Online

Until my last dental cleaning, I’d never realized that my entire life has been a journey to find the best floss the free market has to offer. In fact, even though I’m the daughter of a dentist, I embarrassingly admit I had always thought of all floss as equal. Sure, some is thinner; some is more rope-like and waxed; some has that delightful mint flavor—but c’mon, it’s floss. 

So when Zhanna, my hygienist at Dental Professionals, started waxing poetic about this “perfect” magical floss she has never been able to find in the stores, I finally grasped that no, not all floss is the same. And GUM Expanding Floss is miles above the rest.

But what’s so great about it? You love that rope-like floss because it grabs hold of all the gunk. But it’s painful, and sometimes impossible, to get between tightly packed teeth. The thin stuff? It can easily glide between teeth, but it just doesn’t have as strong a grasp on plaque. GUM Expanding Floss ingeniously solves this problem by starting out thin and then expanding between your teeth. This means you can reach areas in your mouth other floss dares not to go.

Where can I get it? As Zhanna pointed out, finding this stuff in brick-and-mortar stores these days has proved futile. But like any white whale, tracking it down is half the fun. And actually, well, you can just nab it online from your couch. Check out Amazon or GUM's site. (And definitely read the reviews while you’re there—they’re great.)

So thank you, Zhanna, for showing me the light when it comes to my oral hygiene. Some floss changes a person for the better, and this is certainly that floss. Next up: the perfect toothbrush.

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