[kstenerud]

"it's pretty obvious that removing rotting food from your gums is good and leaving it there to putrefy is bad, don't you think?"

But is that actually true? Has anyone actually confirmed it with replicable scientific studies? Did early human teeth rot to hell over the first 10 years of their lives? Why don't cats and monkeys need to brush and floss?

"please use your common sense"

The problem with common sense is that it can be deceptively nonsensical, and we tend to ignore that we haven't proven it because we "know" it's true already.

[erikgaas]

Pets, cats, and dogs only live until they're 20. AND pets DO have lots of problems with dental health. What is with all these people questioning flossing here? Floss your damn teeth. Worst that can happen is the poor guy you work with doesn't have to smell the decomposing food coming out of your mouth. JFC

[village-idiot]

We’ve changed pet food just like we’ve changed our own food. Notice how pets and animals that eat human food (like raccoons) are all getting fat together.

Looking at modern dog dental hygiene to learn about how wild animals’ teeth work is as silly as looking at our dental hygiene to see how a hunter gatherer’s teeth work.

[projektfu]

I'm a veterinarian. Some cats get lucky but the majority of them deal with tooth resorption which is caused by gingivitis. This disease is found on tigers, jaguars, fossilized saber tooth tiger teeth, etc. It's painful and leads to loss of teeth. Often also leads to loss of function, i.e., reduced chewing. It's probably a leading cause of old wild cats throwing in the towel and becoming carrion.

[massysett]

Yep. My cat had a mouth full of rotten teeth. After removing nearly all his teeth his entire disposition changed—went from just sitting around all day to a ball of energy. It also changed his digestion: went from runny poop everywhere to Tootsie rolls.

[rpedela]

Recently I had a bad cavity (back of mouth, didn't hurt until gigantic, don't go to dentist regularly) and very minor bone loss in my jaw next to it. In the process, a dental hygienist explained that the primary purpose of flossing or waterpicking is to prevent bone loss in the jaw which can lead to infection and tooth loss if left untreated.

Thanks to waterpicking, the gums in that area of the jaw have healed and I shouldn't experience any more bone loss as long as I waterpick or floss.

[village-idiot]

Hunter gatherers typically had much better teeth than modern humans, although outliers do exist. The general explanation for this is that diet and nutrition have a much larger impact than mechanical cleaning do.

[D-Coder]

Our vet told us to brush our dog's teeth.

Works best with meat-flavored toothpaste.

[dennisgorelik]

Did your vet recommend to floss your dog's teeth?