If you don’t think flossing does much for you, try flossing as an experiment, then smell the floss and your finger when done. Gak.

But there is a problem with flossing: the floss needs to be smooth to intitially slide between teeth, but then the smoothness makes it less effective in cleaning around the gums.

Here is a possible solution: floss that has alternating sections that are smooth and rough. For example, a half-inch section could be smooth and waxed to ease insertion, next to an inch-long rough piece (e.g. frayed) that would clean around the gums. Use the next smooth/rough pairing for the next tooth gap.

Read on for slightly more details…

The rough section would be similar-looking to those old pipe cleaners (see image).

This floss should be very simple to manufacter: it is one continuous piece of typical floss, but with each section being treated differently. The smooth section would be pressed and waxed, and the rough section would be cut and frayed.

Now someone needs to come up with a cheap and simple IdeaSpark* to keep the finger from getting purple and stinking.