Who Made That Dental Floss?

誰發明了牙線？

PAGAN KENNEDY 報道 2013年01月19日

Jens Mortensen for The New York Times

在19世紀早期，先鋒牙醫利瓦伊·斯皮爾·帕姆利(Levi Spear Parmly)鼓勵病人用絲線清潔牙縫，這種革新方法能夠保護牙齦、預防齲齒。但是“人們就是不能理解”，美國國家牙醫學博物館的館長斯科特·斯旺克 (Scott Swank)博士這樣說。他說，在那個年代，臼齒腐爛很常見，“人們覺得牙齒脫落很正常”。
另外，維多利亞時代的人們很喜歡牙籤。飯後，紳士們拿出皮製的盒子，從天鵝絨襯裡中取出金制的牙籤，開始清潔牙齒。查爾斯·狄更斯(Charles Dickens)有一個牙籤，上面鑲着象牙，鐫刻着他名字的首字母，還能像小望遠鏡一樣縮回到套中。用牙線清潔牙齒可能更有效，但是它怎麼能跟閃閃發亮的 牙籤相比呢？那時候，絲線都是纏在線軸上的，不好處理，必須得用小刀割成合適的長度。更大的問題是，用牙線的話，你得把手指伸到嘴裡。

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19世紀70年代，阿薩赫爾·舒特萊夫(Asahel Shurtleff)申請了第一個牙線支架專利，從而促進了牙線的普及。這個支架是一個旁邊伸出U型叉子的線軸。那個叉子相當於一個迷你的金屬手，引導牙 線在牙齒間穿行。這就是你現在能在藥店里買到的便攜式牙線支架的前身。
此後，設計師們給我們設計出了泡泡糖口味的牙線、“戈爾-特克斯”(Gore-Tex)纖維做的牙線以及牙齒形狀的支架，所有這些都是為了讓用牙線 清潔牙齒看上去很有趣，或者至少不是太難。另外，最近的研究表明：用牙線清潔牙齒可能是最簡單的其中一種預防齲齒的方法。但是，斯旺克說：“人們仍然不夠 重視。或許是因為他們不想把手放到嘴裡。”兩個世紀過去了，我們仍然忘記或者討厭使用牙線這個最有效的方法。
加里·羅馬(Gary Roma)正在製作一部關於牙線的紀錄片。
你真的在拍攝一部關於牙線的長篇電影嗎？在拍完關於門擋的記錄片之後，我決定繼續挖掘平凡事物的意義。
你在電影中拍到了一隻猴子用細線清潔牙齒的畫面，你是怎麼做到的？那是機緣巧合。當時我正在動物園裡拍攝另一部影片。恰好在這個時候，一隻猴子抓住一根繩子，扯下一根線，開始清潔牙齒。
你採訪了兩個試圖用牙線越獄的囚犯。他們具體是怎麼做的？他們用幾英里長的牙線編了兩個繩梯，爬上了40英尺高的獄牆。
你計劃在網上銷售古董牙線盒來為你的電影籌資，是這樣嗎？我可能是世界上收集牙線最多的人——大概收集了200件。我計劃把它們拍賣了，這樣我就能雇個編輯來剪輯100小時長的關於牙線的鏡頭。

本文最初發表於2012年10月21日。
翻譯：王艷

Design

Who Made That Dental Floss?

By PAGAN KENNEDY January 19, 2013

In the early 1800s, a pioneering dentist, Levi Spear Parmly, urged patients to clean between their teeth with silk thread — a revolutionary technique that could protect the gum line and prevent tooth decay. But “people just didn’t get it,” says Dr. Scott Swank, curator of the National Museum of Dentistry. In an era during which rotting molars were the norm, he says, “people expected their teeth to fall out.”

The Victorians also loved their toothpicks. After dinner, a gentleman would produce a leather box, reach into its velvet-lined interior, withdraw his gold pick and begin grooming. Charles Dickens owned a toothpick inlaid with ivory and engraved with his initials; it retracted into its own handle like a tiny spyglass. Flossing might have been more effective, but how could it compete with the flash of the toothpick? Back then, silk thread came in unwieldy spools and had to be cut into lengths with a knife. Worse, using it required you to put your fingers into your mouth.
 In the 1870s, Asahel Shurtleff helped to civilize floss when he patented the first dispenser: a bobbin of thread with a U-shaped prong sticking out of its side. The prong worked like a tiny metal hand, guiding floss between the teeth. His invention anticipated the portable floss holders you can now buy in drugstores.
Designers have since given us bubble-gum-flavored floss, Gore-Tex strands and tooth-shaped dispensers — all in an attempt to make flossing seem fun or at least not too difficult. Recent studies, meanwhile, have revealed that flossing might be one of the simplest ways to ward off tooth decay. Yet, Swank says: “People still don’t care. Or they don’t want to put their hands in their mouths.” Two centuries on, flossing remains the quintessential thing that we forget — and hate — to do.
FLOSS ON FILMGary Roma is producing a documentary about dental floss.
You’re seriously working on a feature-length movie about floss? After making my documentary about doorstops, I decided to continue mining the mundane for meaning.
You managed to catch on film a monkey, flossing with a piece of string. How? Serendipity. I was filming in a zoo for another project. On cue, a monkey grabbed a rope, pulled out a strand and began flossing.
You interviewed two inmates who tried to escape from a prison using dental floss. What was their method? They used several miles of floss to create two braided rope ladders, enabling them to scale a 40-foot prison wall.
Is it true that you’re planning to raise money for your movie by selling vintage floss containers online? I likely have the largest dental-floss collection in the world — nearly 200 pieces. I plan to auction it off so I can hire an editor to whittle down 100 hours of floss footage.