I can't floss because my teeth got screwed up by experimental orthodontics in the '80s. Anyone at the dentist office who gives me shit about not flossing is catching hands.
this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2026
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Reminds me of this comic!
Why is there so many of these backwards ass medical memes on here today? This one came from another post
I too have to ask: backwards? A doc does X ray every day, you get ONE.
Backwards? There is nothing backwards about these memes.
If you floss regularly your gums won't bleed, source: me. My gums never bleed at the dentist, but they used to when I sucked more at dental self-care.
For the X-ray example, think about it this way: the doctor is like a bartender. One drink isn't going to hurt you. The bartender can definitely serve you one drink. But if the bartender had to drink a part of a drink every time they served someone, that would become pretty dangerous for them indeed.
Many people can't floss. Me personally, I got experimental orthodontics in the '80s and they filed between my teeth and flossing has been excruciating ever since. I still have all of my teeth though, minus two wisdom teeth that were removed to create space (it wasn't enough space)
This is one of few memes i really dislike. It is true, if you floss or use interdental brushes your gums wont bleed.
It's such an easy thing you can test for yourself I'm kind of surprised so many people don't understand that it works. Do you also ignore the advice you get from doctors?
Last time I went to dentist, at first everything was okay and I even got compliments on how clean my mouth was. Then I got stabbed by a needle to a gum and then yelled at for not flossing. Later on the dentist found the stabbing wound she did and apologised, yet kept on telling me to just go deeper with the floss, that there must be a hidden infection deeper down and I should not care about pain or floss cuts. Bad, bad advice.
I didn't change shit. My gums don't bleed UNLESS THEY GET STABBED.
80% of US doctors don't know basic anatomy (a statistic i derived from the medical CPEs i taught), so yes I generally do ignore advice they give
They don’t do that if you floss daily, barring gum disease. Once you start it’s going to feel gross to not do it daily.
But then your teeth end up looking like this instead of nicely packed in with plaque
I love a Flapjack reference!
Interdental brushes are the way! No more gum issues since I started, and one habit I'm proud I developed. I had an xray where they showed how much the bacteria had eaten away at my roots - scared straight.
doesnt fit in between my teeth at all
My teeth are so packed together my current dentist literally told me to just not even bother trying to floss my self. I'm more likely to hurt myself or waste my time.
Just use a water pick.
Mine are pretty damn tight too but with the thinnest brush eventually it worked, and felt less and less disturbing. It's the gap by the gums you need to reach, not between the teeth themselves. For that I floss. I try to alternate the two, but it's really more about the gum area.
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some dentist are scammy asf, a notable one in our area just tries to peddle DEEP CLEANING solely and others, tyring to peddle expensive procedures. i also bought back teeth flosser for molars, which the sideways one are not good at, very useful.
I went to one of those exactly once. If a doctor, vet, or dentist even gives me the slightest feeling that I'm being upsold rather than taken care of, I'm gone forever.
My wisdom teeth were growing sideways without me realizing for 29 years of my life so they had to be removed. They appointed me to this dentist that told me since they were so big and doing so much presure against the other teeth they had to be sliced up in pieces so she could extract them piece by piece.
This girl did put so much force and did so much pressurre against my jaw it dislocated and I felt like she was tearing it apart from my skull. I put my fist below it but felt like she was about to sink it in my chest. Did some mumbling due to the pain and discomfort (and because I was a bit scared too) and she had the audacity to, basically, call me a pussy.
Weird flex
i had a oral surgeon remove 2 of my bottom ones. i prefer those over a dentist. better safe then sorry.
Without knowing if youve had other teeth pulled its hard to decide if shes right or not
I've often imagined a little comic strip where a dentist goes to the doctor. the doctor draws blood for tests, or gives an injection, or just pokes/cuts the dentist for no reason. the doctor then says "you're bleeding because you don't shower enough"
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Too many folks ITT with bad oral hygiene. Brush your teeth twice a day and floss at least once a day. I grew up in a very poor area and seeing sick folks who also had rotten and missing teeth made me realize how much dental health is connected with someone's overall health.
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(Jams sharp objects into gums)
You have some sensitivity caused by not flossing!
Also last time I was at a dentist appointment check out when I told the lady I didn't have insurance I'll never forget the look of disgust she gave me. Is that because they get more money from insurance companies than they get from people who pay out of pocket? They charge higher prices to insured people, right?
they assume you wont agree to more procedures down the line or pay more? it its a double edge sword.
i saw a dentist recently out of pocket for emergency tooth pain, it costed 270 for a limited exam on those teeth(not whole mouth). then they try to convince me to do a full cleaning and exam for more twice that much. there are dentist that arnt charging that amount out of pocket. just got google around look at yelp reviews(helpful in looking at seedy dentists, or low cost). dental school/universities are a thing but i noticed they take a very long time to even onboard you, so its not all that useful in the end(especially needed something like cavity filling or more extreme extraction/root canals.) i currently have that same tooth that is much more sensitive than before but they arnt interested in investigating further since it failed the cold test(they apply something cold on the surface of the teeth to determine which one illicit a painful sensitivity response)
also certain insurance might not be accepted by different dentists too.
Let he who flosses each and every day poke the first gum!
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