GUM Technique Deep Clean Manual Toothbrush
Scientifically proven to provide premium cleaning, this toothbrush checks off every toothbrush must-have, especially with its unique Quad-Grip handle and tapered bristle design
Nowadays, dental clinicians know that they can lecture to patients until they are blue in the face about practicing good home care, but when all is said and done, patient compliance is never guaranteed. Whether you’re encouraging patients to try a WiFi-enabled “smart” toothbrush, or simply to use the manual toothbrush included in their post-appointment goodie bag, there will always be patients who choose to tune out your well-meaning advice.
“You can’t follow a patient home,” said Sheri Doniger, DDS, a leading dental clinician, author, educator, and consultant who is passionate about providing individualized preventive care to her patients. “As clinicians, we need to rely on patients listening to what we’re telling them. While there certainly are patients who do brush and floss every day, it’s important to remember that there are two different types of patients.”
Whether Dr. Doniger is treating a compliant patient or someone who is struggling with home care, the No. 1 toothbrush recommended in her office has always been the GUM Technique Deep Clean manual toothbrush by Sunstar. “A good toothbrush will meangood compliance,” she said. “A brush is only good if the patient will use it, and the GUM Technique Deep Clean toothbrush is truly the best manual brush for them to use.”
GUM Technique: An Easy Sell
Sharing a similar perspective, Judy Bendit, RDH, BS, from Delray Beach, FL, said, “We try giving patients the right products and tools, but if you make it too hard or give them too much to do on a regular basis, they’re not going to do it.” She added, “I’m one of those clinicians who feels that supplying patients with the exact product I want them to use is my best defense in getting them to use it.
“I don’t want my patients going into a store and saying, ‘This one is a dollar less’ or ‘This is a pretty color.’ It’s not about that,” Bendit continued. “It’s about the product doing what you need it to do, and I really think the GUM Technique Deep Clean toothbrush does what is says it’s going to do with the research to back it up.”
Uniquely Designed to Tackle Plaque
“The bristle design definitely sets this brush apart from others. It has a further reach and is gentle to the tissues,” Dr. Doniger said. The GUM Technique Deep Clean toothbrush features soft, fine filaments and extremely tapered bristles, affording greater flexibility and reach in interproximal spaces. A second bilevel layer of bristles further assists with cleaning below and along the gum line, as well as exposed tooth surfaces.
“Bristles are one of the most important aspects of the toothbrush. There are other toothbrushes with thinner bristles, but they aren’t tapered the same way as the GUM Technique Deep Clean brush,” Bendit said. “Sunstar is one of the few dental manufacturers that really does their homework, and this bristle design is very unique to Sunstar.”
The toothbrush also incorporates an ergonomic Quad-Grip handle, which helps ensure left- and right-handed users brush at a 45° angle, as recommended by dental professionals. “By guiding patients to adopt the right dental ‘technique,’ this brush enables the ‘deep clean’ of plaque out of the sulcus and teeth,” Dr. Doniger said. “Inside that little pocket or collar of tissue around the tooth is an area where all the plaque builds up, and if plaque stays down there and doesn’t get brushed away, it keeps multiplying,” she continued. “So, the reason that 45° angle is so important is that patients get into the gumline to sweep away plaque and acids before they can cause problems, which is also why we always recommend brushing twice a day.”
Bendit added, “Just by having these narrow, tapered bristles and unique handle design, the GUM Technique Deep Clean toothbrush makes it easy for patients to remove more plaque on a regular basis.”
With Head Size, Less is More
Another helpful feature of this toothbrush is that users can choose between a full or compact head size. The full head size is available with either soft or medium texture bristles, and the compact head size comes with soft texture bristles and ultrasoft texture bristles for sensitive mouths.
Dr. Doniger addressed the importance of patients using a toothbrush that is the right size for their mouths, and Bendit agreed, expanding on the struggle of teaching patients that when it comes to brush heads, bigger is not always better.
“My biggest problem is some patients think they need a big tooth-brush because they feel like a big person, but the reality is that most of our patients will miss many areas of the mouth if their brush head size is too big,” Bendit said. “A lot of people don’t realize this, and when they actually get a toothbrush that fits nicely in those areas, it’s such an ‘aha’ moment.”
What’s in a Name?
Ultimately, few would contest that GUM toothbrushes have established a great reputation, earning the trust and adoration of dental practitioners for decades. “Honestly, GUM brushes have always been such a standard,” said Dr. Doniger. “When I was in dental school, GUM brushes were all we recommended, and that was many years ago. There’s a reason I still recommend them after all these years.”
“The toothbrush tells you what’s in the name,” Bendit assured, especially for the GUM Technique Deep Clean toothbrush. “It’s called ‘deep clean’ because it gets down into those pockets of the gums and effectively cleans the teeth and the tissues, and it positions the brush at the correct angle for patients to brush using the ‘technique’ that we know works well.”
