How Effective is a Waterpik Water Flossers Compared to Flossing?

Flossing is an essential part of maintaining good dental hygiene. Waterpik and other water flossers have become a popular alternative to traditional flossing. While both are used to remove plaque from teeth, experts tend to disagree on the effectiveness of Waterpik. Recent evidence suggests that Waterpik is a comparable alternative to flossing.

Comparison of Effectiveness

Because Waterpiks and other water flossers are recent additions to dental hygiene, there are limited studies about their effectiveness. However, the few studies that are published argue that Waterpiks are a good alternative, or better, than traditional string floss. 

A study compared the plaque removal efficacy of a Waterpik and regular floss among subjects from a dental school clinic. When comparing the reduction of plaque scores, regular floss had an 89.09% reduction, while Waterpik had an 87.23% reduction. These results showed no significant difference in removing plaque with a Waterpik and regular floss. 

A similar study between the Waterpik and waxed string floss showed even more promising results. Subjects that used a Waterpik had a 74.4% reduction in whole mouth plaque, and string floss had a 57.7% reduction. The study states that the Waterpik was 29% more effective than string floss for overall plaque removal. 

Finally, one study compared a powered toothbrush alone to a powered toothbrush and a Waterpik over four weeks. The Waterpik significantly reduced signs of inflammation, plaque, and gingivitis. In addition, subjects felt the Waterpik was easy to use and made their mouth feel clean.

While smaller dental clinics may argue that Waterpiks are ineffective in removing plaque, clinical research studies and the American Dental Association promote Waterpiks as non-superior to or better than traditional string floss.