Treating Caries in the New Era of Dentistry

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By: Dental Product Shopper
9/29/2023

Bringing an end to the era of “watching and waiting,” dental professionals have a new weapon in the fight against early caries: a noninvasive treatment that repairs enamel for all surfaces and all ages

 

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Untreated dental caries remains the No. 1 disease globally. In fact, 85% of patients sitting in the dental chair have initial carious lesions. The majority will leave the office without treatment, as the primary choice for early-stage caries is to watch and wait.

 

“But now,” said Dr. Haley Abivardi, “we can treat all of them, including interproximal caries.”

 

In a culmination of 20 years of research, Dr. Haley and sister Dr. Goly Abivardi, both Swiss dentists, have brought to market an innovative product that gives dental professionals—and patients—the ability to treat early caries. Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus is a unique biomimetic system for anticavity therapy, enabling the management of watch areas through Guided Enamel Remineralization. Easy to apply by the dentist or hygienist in a fast, pain-free, noninva­sive treatment, Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus repre­sents a new way to deliver preventive dental care, happier patients, and better business. 

 

 

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Exactly What They Were Looking For

 

Dr. Haley and Dr. Goly were inspired by their parents—their mother, an entrepreneur, and their father, a natural scientist, taught them important lessons. Their mother told them if they have a vision, go for it, and that there is no such thing as “it doesn’t work.” She also taught them the most beautiful achievement in life is having a positive impact on people's lives. From their father, a natural scientist who was very conscious about sustainability, they learned, “Mother Nature always knows best.” 

 

Their vision was improving the overall health of the population by giving everyone access to the best prevention. 

 

After studying medicine and dentistry in Zurich, the sisters led a public pediatric dental clinic, where they would treat thousands of children, many of them from underserved backgrounds. “It was painful to see our patients suffering from general health issues, even psycho­logical issues due to poor oral health, caused by a lack of knowledge or by anxi­ety about going to the dentist,” Goly said.

 

Acutely aware of the challenge that patient anxiety poses to oral and overall health, 20 years ago Haley and Goly devel­oped the first fear-free DSO (dental service organization) in Europe with an absolutely new concept.

 

“It didn’t look like a dental clinic; it looked more like a spa,” Goly recalled. “We had all our specialists under one roof and opening hours from 7 am to 9 pm every day.”

 

“We left the door open so patients could just walk in,” Haley added. “We had our own fragrance, a special Swiss Smile scent; we had our own music, Swiss Smile music. It was really everything.”

 

“Everything” included education and research, as their business grew to encompass a dental hygiene school and a research center used for dental innovation. Then they stumbled over these revolutionary technologies and the product, Curodont.

 

“It is a unique formula that you just brush on the tooth,” Haley said. “It diffuses within enamel and makes it possible for the calcium and phosphate from saliva to remineralize and reharden the affected enamel. It is a pain-free preventative treat­ment for early decay, without the need for injection or drilling. And that was the moment we said this was exactly what we were looking for, for years and years.”

 

They knew then that their mission had begun—making this technology accessible to everyone and improving overall health. 

 

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A Distinctive Technology

 

Bridging the gap between prevention and invasive restorative treatment, Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus enables effective therapy of early, noncavitated carious lesions through Guided Enamel Remineralization while maintaining the integrity of the tooth. Formulated as a low-viscosity liquid, the patented formulation in Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus diffuses into the depth of the carious lesion within 3 to 5 minutes to start the remineralization process.

 

Other noninvasive products used to remineralize and arrest caries primarily release ions that bond to the surface of dentin and enamel. Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus enables salivary calcium, phosphate, and fluoride ions to penetrate the enamel surface and begin remineralization. 

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Another benefit with Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus is that there is no staining. Patients who are curious about the safety of this new product can be reassured that Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus is safe to use and suitable for every patient, including children.

 

“There is no other product that is similar,” Goly said. “It doesn’t stain, it doesn’t taste bad. It is not a filling that can degenerate over time and lead to decay. You can use it on all surfaces.”

 

“Including the interproximal surfaces,” Haley said. “You can use it on surfaces where you cannot apply sealants.”

 

Treat Patients You Would Otherwise Send Home

 

The traditional approach to noncavitated early-stage carious lesions has been to watch and wait. With more than 80% of patients showing up to hygiene appointments with early lesions—most of them interproximal—that’s a lot of untreated dental disease.

 

Even in the Abivardi sisters' Swiss Smile days, the need for restorations upset the carefully crafted patient ex­perience. “That was the moment the patient’s fear came back,” Haley said.

 

With Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus—whose results are demonstrated in more than a decade of clinical prac­tice involving thousands of patients, as well as a rich literature—all watch areas can now be treated.

 

“Treat all the watch areas instead of dismissing the patient,” Haley said. “And for patients with active car­ies, a recall is recommended every 6 months to treat new lesions.”

She also pointed to orthodontics as a discipline that could greatly benefit from being able to treat white spots resulting from poor oral hygiene around brackets. Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus can also be applied when brackets are in place, with no need to wait until debonding.

 

An Engine for Practice Growth and Patient Satisfaction

 

Of course, in today’s insurance environment, treatment is one thing; reimbursement is another. While practices have been using existing codes for reporting and billing of Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus applications, a new ADA code has been approved specifically for the application of hydroxyapatite regeneration to treat early caries, including watch areas, effective in January 2024.

 

With the opportunity to help patients by treating early caries in just 5 minutes of chair time and bill for the procedure, dental practices can boost production with a product that promotes oral and overall health while providing a positive patient experience.

 

“When patients realize that their dentist can offer drill-free, anti-caries solutions in many cases, that is a message that can spread through word of mouth," Goly said. 

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Curodont Protect: Anticavity and Antisensitivity

 

Bolstering the fight against early caries is the arrival this fall of Curodont Protect, an anticavity product for in-office and at-home use. Designed to be used after application of Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus, Curodont Protect is a remineralizing gel that protects dentin and enamel from caries.

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In keeping with Haley and Goly's vision of pain-free dentistry, Curodont Protect also protects exposed dentinal tubules— helping prevent painful sensitivity. “We used the sister product in Europe in our dental hygiene school before doing deep scaling,” said Haley. “We would apply it on the teeth, leave it for 2 minutes, and as a result the patient experienced significantly less discomfort.”

 

Unlike Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus, which is only used chairside, Curodont Protect can also be used at home.

 

“Our product is unique," Haley added. "You can immediately feel the smoothness on the tooth surface. It’s an ideal comple­ment to Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus and maximizes the patient experience.”

 

Changing Dentistry One Smile at a Time

 

More than a century after Dr. Greene VARDIman Black—known as the father of modern dentistry—famously envisioned a day when dentistry would engage in preventive rather than reparative dentistry, the gap between caries prophylaxis and invasive treatment is closing.

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While caries remains the No. 1 pre­ventable, noncommunicable disease, a proven solution is at hand.

 

“Dental professionals are looking more and more to provide a good patient experience,” said Goly. “And this is one dental product that is a win-win for ev­eryone—the patients, the dentists, even the dental insurance companies! Our goal now is that, someday, every patient has access to this technology, and this makes us extremely happy.”

 

“They say a smile can change the world,” Haley said. “And the best part is having patients who leave the dental office with a smile and are no longer afraid."

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