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July 7, 2009 | dentalproductsreport.com
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Is homecare irrelevant?

New products are available to help maintain oral health for patients who can’t maintain healthy habits.

by Thais Carter, Editor-in-Chief

Xlear’s Sparx Candy. Naturally flavored little candy “dots” that are rich in Xylitol. Photo: SparX Candy by Xlear Inc.

Patient compliance is rarely where you want it to be. The person, who brushes (long enough), flosses (correctly!), rinses and isn’t afraid to wield a tongue scraper is rare. Companies like Procter & Gamble, maker of Crest and Oral-B products, and Colgate work long and hard to promote brushing.

The newest power brushes from Philips Sonicare try to make it cooler, easier, and companies like Dr. Fresh try to make it fun for kids. Sunstar America’s Soft-Picks do their best to take the frustration out of flossing. But at the end of the day, there are still only a handful of patients in each practice who get it right.

In a recent DPR Survey on Periodontics, the most common challenge written in by dentists when it comes to periodontal services is patient compliance. What’s a dental professional to do?

Rethink your homecare arsenal
While there is no replacement for the right toothbrush, floss and rinse, there are new products available that can help mitigate the consequences of inconsistent homecare. Imagine if you could recommend candy to pediatric patients and a simple spray to elderly patients who no longer have the dexterity to brush effectively? Xlear Inc., a Utah-based company founded in 2000, is capitalizing on the clinical benefits of xylitol by offering it not only in a toothpaste and rinse, but in gum, candy, mints and spray.

You hear about xylitol a lot in dentistry these days. It is a white crystalline substance that looks and tastes like sugar. Decades of clinical testing show that, unlike other sugars, it can help reduce the risk of dental caries. In certain parts of Europe it is even endorsed by national dental associations. With that kind of support, xylitol now shows up as an ingredient in numerous dental products. For a patient to experience optimal benefits, however, xylitol should be the only sweetener or the primary sweetener. Xlear products meet that standard.

Shirley Gutkowski, RDH, BSDH, has seen the positive effects of these products in numerous patients, including some who had little to no homecare outside a gum, candy, spray regimen. She believes products with xylitol as the primary ingredient should be a more regular part of a dentist or dental hygienist’s ongoing conversation with patients.

“If the patient is sitting up and you look them square in the face and say, ‘Whatever you’re doing at home isn’t working. We need to step it up,’ that will get their attention,” she says. “You then go on to explain that there is other, newer science that can help them get rid of cavity-causing germs and periodontal disease-causing bacteria.”

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