The Unfortunate Truth Behind Single-Use Floss Picks

November 21, 2023

The Unfortunate Truth Behind Single-Use Floss Picks:

It doesn't take much effort to see the unfortunate results of single-use floss picks. All you have to do is look at the pavement as you walk from your car to the grocery store, and you're bound to see one or more on your 100-foot journey.

Now, don't get me wrong. As a dentist, I love that people are flossing, and people that use single-use floss picks generally floss 2 to 3 times a day, which is awesome. The only thing I don't love is that using 2 to 3 floss picks per day means that 700 to 1,000 floss picks hit the landfill (or your grocery store parking lot) each year...per person! While better than floss picks, traditional string floss also contributes to yearly waste. If you floss twice a day with the recommended 18 inches of floss, you throw away 1,100 feet of floss every year. Finally, other electric flosser brands recommend that you replace the floss head after every use, which leads us back to the problem we have with single-use floss picks.

Why Slate Makes a Difference:

So, what does Slate do to limit waste and have the smallest possible impact on the planet? First of all, we engineered our floss heads so that they use the smallest amount of plastic possible. The end result of that process means that our heads have less plastic than a single-use floss pick. The second thing that we focused on was selecting durable, high-quality floss. That task entailed testing over 50 different fibers before choosing a polyethylene yarn that not only flossed the teeth effectively but also stood up to multiple uses. Most of our users are able to get a week of use out of each floss head with twice-daily flossing.

Taking Care of Your Floss Head:

After every use, you rinse the floss head under a steady stream of water and then allow the flosser to dry on your countertop, just like you do with your toothbrush. Using one floss head per week means that you are throwing just 52 floss heads into the bin per year. Now that is the type of impact that I can get behind.