Dental floss having improved fray and shred resistance

A dental floss comprising a multifilament yarn having at least one coating applied thereon. The yarn comprising the floss is substantially untwisted and comprises entanglement nodes having a frequency of between about 0.5 and about 3.5 inches. The yarn has a basis weight between about 500 and about 1200 denier. The coating applied to the yarn comprises a water-insoluble binder. Optionally, the floss may be coated with a second coating material comprising a water soluble substance such as polyethylene glycol for delivery of additives or additional flavors. With little or no twist and an optimum degree of air-entanglement, the yarn is held together loosely enough to allow a significant amount of coating material to be impregnated between the filaments but tight enough to provide shred and fray resistance and still have supple feel.