No one really likes flossing, particularly with a strand of rough, sticky string that gets caught in the teeth.

But flossing is a critical part of a good daily oral hygiene routine.

Your dentist isn’t unnecessarily making you suffer; flossing can get rid of bacteria and plaque that your toothbrush could never hope to reach.

But not all dental flosses are the same.

Some floss is better for wider gaps, while others are suitable for tighter spaces.

There are also excellent floss types that can make this unappealing task much easier and more comfortable than before.

If the prospect of trying out multiple flosses before you find the perfect one stresses you out, relax; that’s what this guide is for.

Let us show you the best dental floss around, and then give you some practical advice so you can impress the dentist on your next visit.

Let’s begin!

Use the table of contents below to jump to the sections most important to you.

1. COCOFLOSS Coconut-oil Infused Luxury Dental Floss

This best dental floss has a really interesting oil additive to soothe the gums and enhance its effectiveness.

Specs

Who Is It Best For?

This is an excellent choice for men who are tired of mint-flavored floss and whose gums are sensitive or who might need some assistance eliminating bacteria very deep in their gums.

Key Features

The experts at Cocolab designed this floss to be the solution for those who can’t stand the discomfort they experience when they use regular dental floss.

This floss has been made with over 500 different fibers that have all been woven together into a single thin strand.

Even with this high number of fibers, it’s not too wide to easily get stuck between the teeth.

In fact, it’s been covered in a coconut oil wax sheathe that lend it some interesting properties.

For instance, coconut oil gives floss antimicrobial properties; which means that this floss is particularly effective at getting rid of bacteria deep in your gums and on the edges of your teeth.

The coconut oil wax also makes the floss glide smoothly between your teeth, so moving quickly and swiping the strand up and down is gentle, smooth, and doesn’t require a lot of effort.

The wax also softens the impact of the edge of the strand, so it’s less irritating to your gums.

While it won’t prevent bleeding outright if you haven’t lost in a while, this is easily one of the most comfortable floss products that our testers have ever experienced.

The floss is mint flavored, but you can still get a hint of the coconut oil, so the overall taste is unique and unexpected.

The floss is relatively expensive right off the bat since you can only purchase it in containers of three.

But there’s plenty of floss in each small box: enough to supply you for six months if you use the floss daily.

Overall, this is the best dental floss and it’s hard not to recommend this luxury floss for anyone tired of dreading their nightly flossing routine.

It’s excellent value for money in the long run, even if you can get single units of the best dental floss for much cheaper.

Check out the hundreds of customer reviews here on Amazon.

Pros

Feels great on the gums

Wax has antibacterial properties

Plenty of floss in the purchase

Cons

It has a comparatively high upfront asking price

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2. Plackers Micro Mint Dental Floss Picks, 90 Count

These best floss picks come with well-constructed handles and an extra tartar scraper to make sure that you can get rid of any remaining plaque or bacteria when needed.

Specs

Who Is It Best For?

These are good if you already have a solid primary floss choice and need something portable to take with you to clean your teeth between meals or in a hurry.

Key Features

These dental picks are some of the best that you can buy, particularly since plenty come with the purchase.

The total of 90 picks are easily a month’s supply or more depending on how many picks you use in one night.

The picks each have a firm handle that won’t bend or break while it’s in use.

Besides, a protected tartar pick is integrated into each handle to let you scrape away harder bacterial growths with ease.

The floss between the pick’s sides has been specifically engineered to remain healthy and taught even with rigorous use.

It won’t shred or break provided you don’t re-use the same pick twice.

Each floss strand is infused with a little flavor of mint to keep things fresh, although none of them are waxed.

Still, the fact that this is a dental pick pack means that the greater leverage your fingers should have on the grip will likely be enough to prevent any real jams.

The downside to this pack is shared by all dental picks; the value for money isn’t the best floss.

While the asking price is fair, you’ll have to use multiple dental picks each night to accomplish complete flossing across your mouth.

Still, for spot-flossing or getting rid of food between meals, these picks are some of the handiest and most reliable ones you can find on the market.

Check out the hundreds of customer reviews here on Amazon.

Pros

Good floss strength

Handles have tartar picks

Affordable

Cons

The total amount of picks doesn’t last long when flossing thoroughly

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3. Listerine Ultraclean Dental Floss

This is a thin and robust floss type that has extra grooves embedded along its strand’s length; this helps to scoop out excess plaque and bacteria.

Specs

Who Is It Best For?

This is a particularly right choice if you have tightly packed teeth that tends to retain plaque and bacteria more stubbornly than usual.

Key Features

This dental floss is fairly resilient and capable of absorbing startling amounts of plaque and bacteria without shredding or fraying.

As a monofilament type, it’s particularly hardy and tough and can be used intensely without having to draw extra floss from the container.

It’s a mint-flavored floss, perfect if you enjoy the clean feeling that mint aftertastes usually bring.

The floss strands also have small micro-grooves installed all along the length of the strands.

This micro-grooves help pick up even more bacteria and plaque than other leading dental floss products.

Of course, while this floss is thin and perfect for tight teeth, it’s not waxed so you might need to work it around a bit if floss often gets caught between your pearly whites.

But the micro-grooves help to make the floss effective even if it isn’t too thick and doesn’t cover a ton of surface area in one pass.

You also get a ton of floss with this purchase, and for an agreeable asking price.

You could quickly get over six months’ worth of floss in one purchase if you use it correctly.

Overall, we’d recommend this for men with tightly packed teeth who often have trouble scooping out the appropriate amount of plaque and bacteria.

Check out the hundreds of customer reviews here on Amazon.

Pros

Micro-grooves scoop out extra junk

Lots in the purchase

Crisp mint taste

Cons

Can sometimes get stuck in teeth

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4. Reach Waxed Dental Floss for Plaque and Food Removal

This waxed floss doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles, but it is practical, boasting one of the broadest surface areas you’ll find in a floss product and plenty of wax to help keep things moving smoothly.

Specs

Who Is It Best For?

This is the right choice if you have larger gaps between your teeth, or simply need a floss that moves quickly, scooping up lots of plaque as it goes.

Key Features

This is a simple floss, but it’s well worth your time and money.

It’s thicker than any other floss we’ve looked at so far.

It’s also waxed to help prevent the floss from becoming caught between your teeth, even if you don’t have a lot of space between individual ones.

The thickness and wax both combine to create an easy-sliding floss variety that’s perfect for men who have large gaps between their teeth or tightly packed teeth alike.

The wide surface area of the floss strand means that you don’t have to spend as much time going back and forth over individual teeth to ensure that you get all the plaque and bacteria necessary.

This floss is unflavored, so it might also be a great choice if you have teeth that are particularly sensitive to sharp or sugary flavors.

You also get six small floss boxes with the purchase, and each box offers 55 yards of floss.

That’s a ton of dental floss that should last you for much of the year if you use the floss correctly.

Since you can get this floss for a meager asking price, we also think this is a good pick if you are stocking up on floss for the foreseeable future and don’t want to have to refill anytime soon.

Check out the hundreds of customer reviews here on Amazon.

Pros

Very affordable asking price

Lots of floss comes with the purchase

Thick, reaches a lot of surface area

Waxed to improve movement

Cons

Thickness may increase discomfort

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5. Dr. Tung’s Smart Floss

Dr. Tung’s Smart Floss has a relatively unique flavor compared to other floss products and expands as you use it, covering more of the surface area between your teeth over time.

Specs

Who Is It Best For?

Dr. Tung’s Smart Floss is a fantastic choice if you have gaps between your teeth that are wider and closer to the root; the expansion aspect of the floss will help to clean out plaque and bacteria with fewer swipes.

Key Features

This floss is a particularly neat trick thanks to its multifilament construction and thick surface area.

As you use Dr. Tung’s Smart Floss in the spaces between your teeth, you’ll discover that the floss expands in size to fill the gap much more than other floss products for oral care.

What this means is that the odds of plaque and bacteria remaining in the crevices between your teeth diminish with each pass.

The expansion of the floss helps ensure that you get all the junk possible out with every application.

Since Dr. Tung’s Smart Floss is already thicker than other floss products, the effect is increased even more.

The floss is also flavored with a unique cardamom taste.

This helps distinguish it from other cool mint floss products, although this taste may not be to your liking depending on whether or not you’ve experienced it before.

Despite its large surface area, the floss is gentle and soft on the surfaces of your gums and shouldn’t cause undue discomfort.

The biggest issue facing this pick is its high asking price, although you get six of the small circular floss dispensers with each purchase.

You don’t get quite as much floss as our last top pick, but you still get enough to last you for most of the year.

Check out the hundreds of Dr. Tung’s Smart Floss customer reviews here on Amazon.

Pros

Very gentle on the gums

Floss expands to fill empty space and scoop out plaque

Interesting flavor

Cons

A little expensive

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6. Reach Dentotape Waxed Dental Floss

This is a dental tape product that’s designed for use in large gaps beyond all else; men with tightly packed teeth may find it challenging to use even with its wax coating.

Specs

Who Is It Best For?

This dental tape is one of the best choices you can make if you have big gaps in your teeth due to its high surface area.

Key Features

This is a dental tape with lots of surface area to spare and plenty in each container.

It’s already thicker than most other dental floss products, but its status as a full dental tape means that you can fill in the gaps above the gums and on the sides of teeth particularly effectively.

The dental tape is unflavored and waxed, so it should glide over the surfaces of your teeth with little to no resistance.

This is mostly a speed boost to your flossing efforts since wide gaps between your teeth mean that the chances of floss being caught are slim to none.

You get six dispensers, each with 100 yards of dental tape, with your purchase.

This is clearly the best pick for dental floss or tape in terms of the amount of floss you get per dollar.

If you’re on a really tight budget and want to make sure that you get plenty of dental tape for the foreseeable future, we’d readily recommend that you pick this up.

Check out the hundreds of customer reviews here on Amazon.

Pros

Large surface area

Lots of dental tape in each dispenser

Great value for money

Cons

Not suitable for teeth with small gaps

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7. Listerine Gentle Gum Care Interdental Floss

This wax has been designed with a unique cushioned weave to help keep it gentle and effective on sensitive gums.

Specs

Who Is It Best For?

We recommend this floss if you have sensitive gums or struggle to keep up a good flossing habit due to the pain and discomfort that the task causes you.

Key Features

The most significant advantage of this floss product is its cushioned woven design.

The multifilament strand has been specifically tailored for use with sensitive gums and teeth.

You’ll be able to feel an immediate difference, just like our testers did, upon application of the floss on your gums.

The unique cushioning makes your gums less sensitive to the wear and tear initiated by regular flossing and can help minimize bleeding or other side effects.

Despite the cushioning, the floss is still narrow enough to easily fit between the gaps of tightly packed teeth and reach far down to the root of the gums to remove plaque and bacteria effectively.

The biggest downside to this design is that the cushioned construction of the floss strand may cause it to get stuck or jammed between tightly packed teeth, requiring a little elbow grease to withdraw the floss.

This floss isn’t waxed, too, which may have alleviated this side effect.

The floss uses a refreshing mint flavor that’s reminiscent of the natural mint flavor used in the standard Listerine mouthwash.

We’ve done a guide on the best mouthwashes, by the way, if you want to see more options.

You get six dispensers with 50 yards of floss each for this one-time purchase.

Overall, this is the best floss for sensitive gums.

While the floss won’t totally eliminate any bleeding or side effects, it will make your flossing experience a lot better.

Check out the hundreds of customer reviews here on Amazon.

Pros

Very soft and cushioned against gums

Can fit between most teeth

Lots of floss with the purchase

Cons

Not waxed, may get caught

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8. Glide Oral-B Pro-Health Deep Clean Floss

This floss isn’t particularly innovative, but it does have some useful design features and a lot of value packed into its narrow strand.

Specs

Who Is It Best For?

This thin glide floss is one of the best floss choices you can make if you have narrow gaps between your teeth, especially since it has a light wax coating to help move things along.

Key Features

This Oral-B glide pro health comfort plus dental floss is both thin and waxed, so the common issue of thin floss getting caught between tightly packed teeth is alleviated somewhat thanks to the wax coating that runs the length of the strand.

The wax helps to ensure that the Oral-B glide pro health comfort plus dental floss glides evenly and quickly between your teeth and won’t easily get stuck or jammed.

At the same time, this is one of the most durable monofilament floss products you can find on the market.

It has an extraordinarily smooth and shred-resistant texture that isn’t likely to fray or start to break even towards the end of your flossing session.

You get six dispensers of the floss with your oral-B glide pro-health comfort floss purchase, each with about 44 yards of floss contained within.

The value for money here is decent, although it’s not the best we’ve seen.

The floss also comes with a natural mint flavor.

The only real issue facing the Oral-B glide pro-health floss is its low surface area.

While it’s excellent for tightly packed teeth, the floss will require you to slide it up and down several times to ensure that you hit all the affected areas and get rid of all plaque and bacteria needed.

This is still easy thanks to the wax coating, however, so it’s a really minor flaw overall.

Check out the hundreds of customer reviews here on Amazon.

Pros

Smooth gliding

Good wax coating

Tear-resistant

Cons

Not a lot of surface area covered by each pass

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As we start to explain the best dental floss products you can buy, let’s go over the factors we used to figure out which flosses were ultimately superior.

1. Floss Type

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The type of floss that you use affects its feel, size, and effectiveness at getting rid of bacteria and plaque between your teeth.

While all floss will do the job, certain types are definitely better for different teeth or different needs.

Monofilament floss is typically made of strong material like Teflon or PTFE.

It’s usually quite thick dental floss and glides over the surfaces of your teeth due to its material composition and overall integrity.

If you have jagged tooth edges or your teeth are particularly tightly packed together, you might find some success with monofilament floss since it isn’t likely to get stuck very easily.

By the same token, monofilament floss can be tough to use with tight spaces between your teeth due to its overall thickness.

Monofilament floss is usually cheaper compared to multifilament floss, and as a result, it’s not quite as effective as multifilament floss when it comes to getting rid of tooth debris and bacteria in a single swipe.

It’s not uncommon to need to use your monofilament floss multiple times between one pair of teeth to get everything out.

It’s a classic trade-off between price and quality, and it’s up to you to decide which of the two is more important.

On the flip side, multifilament floss is also very common, and it’s usually even thicker than monofilament floss.

This woven floss is usually made of nylon and other materials, and there are often multiple strands of the stuff woven together into a single spring.

This straight strand usually is quite comfortable to use and, due to its thickness, it’s often pretty great at getting rid of plaque and bacteria after just a single swipe.

However, some multifilament flosses can be even harder to use if you have narrow crevices between your teeth.

It spreads out when you press it against the walls of your teeth; this assists it in removing plaque and debris, but it also increases the likelihood of the floss becoming stuck.

Besides, multifilament floss can fray or shred as you use it; this is because it’s made of multiple strands of material woven together.

Multifilament floss is usually a little more expensive than monofilament, but not by much.

This is the best floss for teeth having braces or other tooth implants and constructs.

Super floss is precut and comes in pieces that are ready to use right out of the box.

It’s usually made of three different segments: a stiff, flexible, and regular section each at a different part of the strength.

The stiff part of the super floss can help you guide the rest of the floss in between your teeth or the spaces between your braces.

That’s what the flexible and regular segments are for.

Due to its versatility and excellent cleaning capability, super floss is also a great choice if you don’t have a lot of ability in your fingers from age or finger-related health issues.

Floss threaders are great tools to help you maneuver this kind of floss between and under your braces, as well.

Dental tape is usually broader and flatter than regular floss.

This boost to the surface area means that it covers more of the surface of your teeth with each swipe or pull.

Dental tape is usually more comfortable and the best floss to use since its larger surface area doesn’t constrict your finger as you wrap it around tightly.

Dental tape is also great for use with men who have wide gaps between their teeth since it isn’t likely to get stuck, regular floss tends to struggle.

Of course, this also means that it’s not the best choice for those with really tight gaps between their teeth.

Dental tape is usually sold in packages with many feet of the product included.

Overall, dental tape should be used in the gaps between your teeth are wide enough that the usual floss doesn’t cover enough surface area to be time-efficient.

These are small plastic implements with a tiny strand of floss that’s suspended between their hooks or arms.

This precut amount of floss makes it difficult for you to end up wasting too much of the stuff, although the plastic material used for the implements means that this type of dental floss ends up causing more overall waste in the end.

Floss picks are very easy to use since you can grip the pick by the handle and simply work the tiny floss bridge in between the gaps of your teeth.

They are a great choice in floss for kids ( e.g. Plackers kids) or people with low finger dexterity, but they aren’t often the best dental floss in terms of value for money.

You’ll typically get a lot more floss per dollar spent with any of the other types when compared to the best dental floss picks.

Also, they have to be disposed of after one use just like normal floss.

2. Floss Width

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We already touched on this aspect above, but it’s worth mentioning again.

The width of your floss affects both how much plaque and bacteria you can remove with a single pass and how well a given floss strand will fit between your teeth.

If you have teeth that are tightly packed together, either due to genetics or dental work, you’ll probably find more success with floss than persons with wide teeth spaces.

The reverse is true if you have teeth with larger gaps between them.

Wide floss is particularly useful if you have bigger gaps between your teeth because food and bacteria tend to fill up those gaps consistently.

This is mostly a personal preference and comfort factor, as any size of floss can give you success provided you spend the appropriate amount of time on your teeth.

Overall, we’d recommend you just take a moment to consider the overall width of a given floss product before you finalize your purchase.

3. Flavored or Unflavored

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Here’s another minor factor that nonetheless affects your everyday experience with your floss.

Some floss types come with mint or sugary flavors; these are purely extra and don’t impact the performance of your floss.

However, we would typically recommend against getting floss products that have overly sugary tastes since this usually indicates the presence of some kind of sweet ingredient or compound on the floss itself.

As you might imagine, this is somewhat counterintuitive to the stated purpose of floss.

If you’re serious about getting rid of excess bacteria and plaque between your teeth, using a floss strand that has sugary fuel for that bacteria coating its surface is a bit of a misstep.

Mint flavored floss isn’t as bad and can even contribute to an overall clean feeling in your mouth.

Mint flavored floss is also advantageous since the light tingling sensation it produces can give you tactile confirmation that you hit the very bottom of your gums.

But when in doubt, there’s nothing wrong with getting floss that doesn’t taste like anything in particular.

Unflavored floss can also be helpful if you have sensitive teeth that don’t take kindly to sharp mint flavors and tingling.

4. Waxed or Unwaxed

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Finally, the best dental floss comes in either waxed or unwaxed varieties.

You can find waxed and unwaxed dental floss types among all the other subtypes that we described above.

Basically, waxed dental floss glides between your teeth more efficiently and isn’t as likely to get caught or jammed, requiring extra finger strength to work free.

You’ll also find a lot of waxed brands of dental floss that come with a specific flavor.

Lots of PTFE-type flosses tend to be waxed; take care if you prioritize only putting natural ingredients into your mouth since lots of PTFE wax flosses get their waxed properties from industrial base chemicals.

Waxed floss is much easier to work with if you have tightly packed teeth since the wax coating allows the floss strand to glide between individual teeth much more smoothly.

Unwaxed floss doesn’t move with the same speed or smoothness as waxed floss, but it’s by no means a subpar product.

In fact, many people don’t like the way that waxed floss feels between their teeth or in their hands since it leaves a slightly sticky residue that can make the surface of your skin or teeth feel tacky.

However, unwaxed floss tends to break a little more quickly than waxed floss since the filament isn’t reinforced in any way.

This difference isn’t that major, and you shouldn’t necessarily expect unwaxed floss to tear.

But we always recommend trying to find a floss that has been reinforced in some way to prevent fraying as you use it.

Overall, waxed and unwaxed floss both remove the same amount of plaque and bacteria, as seen in several studies.

The primary differences in their mouthfeel, ease of use, and tensile strength.

Waxed floss might be a little more expensive than unwaxed floss, but the price difference should be very drastic in most cases.

It’s ultimately up to you and your personal preferences.

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Now you’ve got some new dental floss, but what’s the best way to use it?

Let’s go over some frequently asked questions about flossing and proper technique.