Story highlights A study finds that one-third of American adults never floss

Flossing can prevent buildup of plaque and tooth loss

(CNN) Do you floss your pearly whites every day? A recent study found that nearly one-third of American adults never do.

The study looked at data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to determine the percentage of American adults who neglect to floss their teeth. Researchers examined self-reports of more than 9,000 adults, ages 30 and older, who gave the number of days they flossed the week before.

The results showed that 32.4% of adults reported no flossing, 37.3% reported less than daily flossing and 30.3% reported daily flossing in the past week.

The study also found that failure to floss was higher in men than women, higher for those 75 or older than those 30 to 44, and higher among non-Hispanic black and Hispanic adults than non-Hispanic white adults. Low-income participants were also less likely to floss than higher-income participants.

Study author Dr. Duong Nguyen said the results call for stronger patient education to inform people about the benefits of flossing.

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