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I’m Sorry to Tell You That This Fancy Dental Floss Really Works

Photo: Courtesy of Humankind

Unfortunately for flossing, it will never be sexy. While basic self-care practices such as moisturizing, bathing, or even washing your hair can be seen as sensual, flossing involves plaque. And no matter how handsome your dentist is, the act of loosening plaque from between your teeth just isn’t arousing. That’s fine. Not everything has to be sexy. But I think flossing can at least be luxurious? Maybe?

I’d never considered the idea of luxury floss before I tried the one from By Humankind. The container is sleek, elegant, and smart, like Alexa had a baby with a French macaron. The small curved disk — which comes in shades of matte spearmint green, coconut white, or chocolaty burgundy — is just the right size for your palm. Extricating celery roughage from your gums has never looked so good.

But the real kicker is that the floss string itself is made of Italian silk. Silk dental floss! As they say on Twitter, what a time to be alive. It’s also lightly coated with jojoba oil and vegan wax. While my gums can’t tell the difference between waxed nylon and protein fibers woven by a silkworm, I can tell you with certainty that By Humankind’s sturdier string is better at scraping out gunk from your teeth than the ordinary drugstore floss.

Much like with blackhead strips, I find disgusting joy in seeing what my gloss has collected, because it makes me feel like I’m doing a good job — and I can do that with By Humankind’s more substantial thread. I also find that the string is slightly softer and less likely to cut into my gums, so they’re less likely to bleed. The floss also seems less prone to breakage, so I’m never stuck with irritating bits of broken floss between my teeth.

The floss comes in different “flavors,” including lemongrass, peppermint, and cardamom (you can also get unflavored). Each floss is refillable — although, confusingly, the price for the refill and the price for the refill plus the container seem to be the same? — and also plastic-free. If teeth can be fancy, I guess my gums are entering the big time now.

Photo: Courtesy of Humankind
I’m Sorry to Tell You This Fancy Dental Floss Really Works