Metal Mouth Message Board

I have learned so much on this board! I was reading here today and lo and behold, came across something called self threading floss. How come my ortho never told me about this? I got the stupid floss threaders, and after an aggravating hour of trying to floss, I got fed up and quit.

I was just wondering where you guys are buying this floss? Can you find it at places like Wal-Mart? I would love to give this stuff a try if I can find it.

my ortho never even mentioned threading floss, or a floss threader!
i dont know if you can even get it here! (but i'm going to ask )

Meryaten wrote:I picked up the Glide stuff at Rite Aid.

Lynn also sells it.

Gosh, wouldn't ya know we don't have a Rite Aid here. Shocking. I guess I'll check around at a few places here and if all else fails, I'll order it from Lynn.

Thanks, Mery!

The day I got my braces on my dentist gave me a huge supply of floss. Waxed floss, unwaxed floss, a ton of floss threaders, and "superfloss". I think this is what you are taking about when you say self threading floss. The stuff I have is made by Oral-B. Basically one end of it is stiff so its easier to thread under the braces. Personally, I am not fond of it. It's a bit too coarse for my gums, but others may like it. I just use regular waxed floss and I find its stiff enough to thread under the brackets no problem. Next time you are at the ortho, ask him about it, he may have some samples lying around.

It's a shame that some orthos don't tell their patients about the new "threader floss" products (which have been out for several years already). After I found out about it, I never went back to the plastic needles. Some people do need to use them, however -- I've gotten emails from people with bridgework who tell me that only the plastic needles will do.

There are three types of Threader Floss that I know of:

1. Glide/Crest brand Threader Floss (made of the super slippery Glide Floss). They come individually packaged in little paper sachets (30 to a box), which makes them extremely portable.

2. SuperFloss - Invented by Thornton and then sold to Oral-B. This has a built-in plastic threader and thick spongy middle part. It's best for people with gaps or wider spaces. I admit that I wasn't fond of it at first, but after the extractions (gaps and then more room between teeth), I got into it (I preferred the Thronton one, however). They are sold in boxes with 50 strands inside (not individually wrapped).

3. Thornton 3-in-1 Floss - the original "threader floss". This is very similar to SuperFloss, but is sold in packs of 100 and 200 which are much more economical to the consumer. But it's almost impossible to find the Thornton floss in stores. Thornton also makes a few other types of threader floss (for perio patients, for bridgework, etc).

So where can you get this stuff? The Glide and SuperFloss products are sold in most US drugstores (not sure about overseas) and large online drugstores. I haven't seen the Thornton Floss in retail stores, but it's possible that it's out there in specific areas. And as a few people have mentioned, I also sell these products at DentaKit.com.

As luck would have it, I checked out my local Wally World ( WalMart ), and they had it. They had the Glide brand, which was quite spendy, and the Superfloss, which was what I ended up getting. I'm cheap.

Got home, tried it....loved it! That stuff is a lifesaver!

Thanks, Lynn for all that info!

mtbrncofn wrote:As luck would have it, I checked out my local Wally World ( WalMart ), and they had it. They had the Glide brand, which was quite spendy, and the Superfloss, which was what I ended up getting. I'm cheap.

Got home, tried it....loved it! That stuff is a lifesaver!

Thanks, Lynn for all that info!

Excellent, I think you made a good chioce. The thorton and super get their woven areas caugth on brackets and shread if you are not careful.

I have had the Glide get little filaments cut of, but not like other two.