FOCUS ON... Between-Teeth Cleaning

It’s the perennial battle between clinicians and patients—why don’t they floss? Noncompliance might go beyond laziness to actual challenges, namely a lack of understanding regarding the need to do more than brush, as well as physical barriers to execution.

“I would say there’s a lack of knowledge of why we need to clean between our teeth in the first place. So many people do not realize how many microorganisms live in their mouths,” said Sherry Morrissey, RDH, a Dental Product Shopper evaluator who practices in Grand Forks, ND.

Morrissey has heard all the common excuses, too. Flossing is too cumbersome to do every day, the sight of bleeding gums can be unsettling, or the most common—there’s no time to floss. But there are also those patients who struggle to execute. Perhaps they have large fingers that don’t fit in the mouth easily or they otherwise lack dexterity to handle the floss. Other patients struggle to navigate around appliances and prosthetics, including bridges and implants.

“I like that Sunstar started making different sizes—tight and wide—and lengths of their GUM Soft-Picks,” Morrissey commented.

GUM Go-Betweens Proxabrush Cleaners have been clinically designed by dental professionals to remove dental plaque from areas between the teeth most commonly missed by toothbrushing alone.

“GUM Go-Betweens Proxabrush Cleaners are great for patients with bridges, embrasure spaces, and implants,” Morrissey explained. “I like that the wire in the brushes is coated, so there are no scratches on the delicate implant surfaces.”

Ambur Alfaro, a hygienist in Wichita, KS, agrees that it’s important to provide patients with simple options and functional tools to make it easier for them to clean between their teeth. “Anything that can be provided to patients that can make their lives easier when it comes to oral home care is worth it,” Alfaro said.

Alfaro recently tested Sunstar’s new Soft-Picks Comfort Flex as part of a DPS evaluation—using the picks on patients in the office and having patients continue using them at home. Designed with a flexible neck and large handle to make it easier to maneuver inside the mouth, the interproximal picks also have a rubber grip for extra comfort and control. Alfaro found Soft-Picks Comfort Flex to be flexible to angle and access posterior molars, and her patients found them easy to use, which encouraged and improved their oral home care. “Overall, [it’s a] great product and gets the job done, reducing the risk of inflammation, decay and disease,” Alfaro concluded.

While Morrissey still believes in manual flossing for interproximal cleaning, she sees improvements in patients who use floss picks or other aids. These products have had a positive impact on changing patient habits, she said. “Anything that can get between the teeth where the plaque sits and dislodge it out of there will benefit the gums,” she concluded.