"Manufacturers are switching to different materials, trading smoothness for safety."
"The question popped up earlier this year in a Reddit discussion on dental hygiene: Anyone notice that Oral-B floss suddenly seemed different?
“It feels more plastic-like, rougher, less smooth,” the Reddit user noted. Wrote another: “It feels like I’m going to take a tooth along with it when I pull it out.”
Some dental floss manufacturers have indeed been quietly moving away from the synthetic material PTFE, which helped their product slip smoothly between teeth. Their decisions follow studies raising concerns as well as consumer worries and state regulation of consumer products containing PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
PTFE — most famous for its brand name Teflon — falls under the PFAS category. Exposure to these per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds has been linked to adverse health effects that include a risk of certain cancers, reduced immune response and reproductive problems. Such risks have not been established specifically for PTFE."
Margaret Hetherman reports for the Washington Post October 18, 2026.
