# The Woven Dental Floss Shortage Crisis **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2012, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726 "2012-05-03T06:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blazemorton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/51bf81/32.png) [@blazemorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blazemorton)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/22 "2012-09-05T20:00:14Z")
I just contacted Johnson & Johnson. The only Reach woven dental floss that has been discontinued is the “non fluoride” floss. Reach continues to make and distribute the woven floss containing fluoride. Don’t let any sales sites jack the price on you!! ---
**Author:** ![Crab\_Rangoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Crab\_Rangoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crab_Rangoon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/23 "2012-09-05T21:27:37Z")
Great. NOW you tell me. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/24 "2012-09-05T21:56:43Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > There’s only so many hours work a pygmy pony can be expected to do. Demand is up, so it’s high time for him to dump Might Little - even though he’s a good hoss - and graduate to a Case tractor. ---
**Author:** ![malina12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@malina12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malina12)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/25 "2012-11-25T15:22:48Z")
I will be getting a load of woven dental floss. I am happy to send some your way and not at the inflated prices, just 3.99 like at store. Will let you all know when it arrives ---
**Author:** ![someperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@someperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/someperson)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/26 "2014-10-15T23:19:20Z")
Since it’s 2014 and this nonsense is in its ???-th iteration, and this thread is still at the top of search results… At present the form this floss is available in is called “Johnson & Johnson LISTERINE GENTLE GUM CARE MINT FLOSS Soft, Woven Floss for Sensitive Gums”. That sounds like it’s some strange alteration, but AFAIK from handling & using it, it’s the same thing. It does not, AFAICT, have the offputting thick coating of “mint” or whatever that the textual description would suggest to me. It looks like this: [![](https://i.imgur.com/ZBN9TOn.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/ZBN9TOn.jpg) You can still see the pink color that the last iteration adopted to make us confused when looking for it (remember when it was just white with blue?), only now it’s surrounded by an overpowering Listerine-style blue border. It appropriately says ‘NEW BRAND’ in yellow at top right, because obviously every time they needlessly change this product we need to know about it and the easiest way to inform us is to make roughly 0.0005% of the bizarre new packaging & branding be yellow. Apparently it’s important that this floss be associated with a mouthwash… no doubt something to do with the genericization of the ‘Listerine’ brand since everyone agreed that swishing alcohol, a carcinogen that makes your gums recede, is not necessarily the best thing ever all the time. They even acknowledge that what they’re doing is super idiotic by including at the bottom the statement ‘Does not contain mouth rinse ingredients’. Anyways it’s ordinarily priced, at around $3 at Walgreens; I got some for $2.40 at Winco. I presume places like Walmart will eventually stock it as they did the last iteration. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/27 "2014-10-16T02:58:06Z")
I have only found it for $3.99 at Kroger (for reference my local options are: Walmart, Target, Giant Eagle, Meijer, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid), and it does not look like the one in the previous post. I believe it is pink, though. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/28 "2014-10-16T04:02:46Z")
> [@](#): > > and this thread is still at the top of search results What search term, if I may be so bold? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/29 "2014-10-16T04:16:17Z")
Do zombies need dental floss? With all of the gum/flesh decay, I’d think much less food would get caught. That being said, I found it in the store (for $3.49) before I realize the age of the thread. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/30 "2014-10-16T04:26:33Z")
[Shame Frank Zappa still isn’t around.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smZA9Jv3qH0) ---
**Author:** ![someperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@someperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/someperson)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/31 "2014-10-18T19:55:31Z")
> [@susan](#): > > What search term, if I may be so bold? ‘woven floss’ (don’t even have to specify ‘crisis’ or ‘shortage’ or “can’t find”, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![someperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@someperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/someperson)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/32 "2014-10-18T20:01:54Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > I have only found it for $3.99 at Kroger (for reference my local options are: Walmart, Target, Giant Eagle, Meijer, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid), and it does not look like the one in the previous post. I believe it is pink, though. White and pink is the last iteration. Expect stock of that one to slowly disappear, and eventually be replaced by the Listerine style I linked to (with a brief period of having none available at all, probably, because replacing one version of something with the new version of something doesn’t seem to be any of these companies’ strong suits). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726/34 "2022-11-02T05:12:54Z")
A simple Google search for “woven dental floss” did turn up quite a few results, and it seems that the most popular, readily available one now is made from coconut fiber. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woven-dental-floss-shortage-crisis/620726.md?page=1)