For hygienist Susan Cotten, prevention starts with oral cancer screening and continues beyond the chair with effective, daily home care using clinically proven GUM Soft-Picks
Susan Cotten remembers the day a hygiene patient—an HPV oropharyngeal cancer survivor—burst into tears in the dental chair, embarrassed to smile at a friend's upcoming wedding because of the damage cancer treatment had done to her teeth and gums.
“She just wanted to smile, laugh, and take pictures, just like everyone else," Cotten recalled, "without the constant fear that someone would see what her teeth looked like. As her hygienist for 2 years, I knew what cancer had done to her mouth, but it wasn’t until that moment that I realized what cancer had done to her entire life. I knew I had to find a way to prevent this kind of pain and embarrassment.”
Prevention in the Chair
That moment shaped Cotten into one of the profession's leading voices on oral cancer prevention. It also led her to develop The Cotten Method of Screening, a science-based approach to detecting head, neck, oral, and oropharyngeal cancer. Since then, thousands of clinicians have attended her hands-on workshops, courses, and webinars.
Yet for Cotten, screening is just one layer of prevention. "Hygienists are prevention specialists," she said. "We focus on preventing gum disease, caries, and oral cancers."
Keeping the periodontium and surrounding tissues healthy is central to all of it, she noted, reducing the risk of oral cancer and the systemic diseases tied to poor oral health. And maintaining a healthy mouth depends on what happens at home, between visits.
Clinically Proven Prevention at Home—and Wherever Patients Go
That's where interdental cleaning enters the conversation. "Dental hygienists educate patients about oral cancer signs and symptoms, share our knowledge about risk factors, and recommend preventive measures that can lower caries risk," Cotten said, "and that includes encouraging effective home care."
For Cotten, that means GUM Soft-Picks. Clinically proven to remove interdental plaque and food debris as effectively as string floss, GUM Soft-Picks deliver comparable efficacy with greater ease of use for a broad range of patients. Soft rubber bristles slide comfortably between teeth, making them especially helpful in hard-to-reach areas.
"GUM Soft-Picks are really easy to use, very effective, and convenient," she said. "You just carry them in your purse or pocket and you can take them anywhere you go!"
