Floss in the Recession

I've made a conscious effort to floss once every few days for two reasons:

1. I noticed that we had a spool of dental floss in the bathroom drawer.


2. I haven't seen a dentist in a while and probably won't for another several months, so I decided that my oral hygiene probably shouldn't be limited to a toothbrush and some Aqua Fresh®.

As I was flossing this morning, I couldn't help but think about what effect (if any) the recession is having on dental floss sales. I had two thoughts:

1. People may consider floss an unnecessary expense, an item they can leave out of the grocery cart in the interest of saving a little money. These people may reason that, in these tough economic times, brushing one's teeth should be sufficient—that floss is just a luxury for the wealthy and vain.


2. People may decide that they can no longer afford for a chunk of their paychecks to be lost to dental coverage. These people may decide to pay special attention to their teeth and gums to avoid an uninsured trip to the dentist. Thus they might buy floss, which helps keep the teeth and gums healthy and tends to be significantly less expensive than a dental premium.

Thoughts?