I’m no great fan of rasping my gums with a bit of waxy twine, and yet neither am I that keen on carrying around bits of last night’s steak between my teeth.
Today’s invention is an alternative to conventional flossing techniques. Imagine a squishy gumshield-like pad, moulded to fit each individual’s mouth so that when a person bites down on it, any large gaps between shield and tooth, or between tooth and tooth are sealed.
The pad is supplied, from a pipe at the front of the mouth, with water at high pressure which exits from its top and bottom surfaces (the water supply pressure might pulse rhythmically and have mouthwash added for enhanced cleaning).
This flow can then only exit from the mouth via the small gaps between the teeth (assuming the user has blocked his throat with his tongue). In this way, the gums get massaged and cleaned but they avoid being sawn at randomly in the traditional flossing mode.
It’s still not a pretty sight, but at least it’s fast, reasonably effective and probably cheaper than using ‘medicated’ pull-through..
