Product Evaluation

Picture this: a patient arrives for a routine cleaning and excitedly tells her hygienist that she has a critical job interview immediately afterward. She leaves the office with a polished smile, full of confidence. However, upon checking her reflection before the interview, she notices unsightly white splatters on her outfit. Despite the use of a protective bib, prophy paste splatter can sometimes reach beyond it.

This unfortunate scenario might have been avoided if her hygienist had used Henry Schein’s ACCLEAN Disposable Prophy Angles, which are not only easy to use, but also enhance the patient’s cleaning experience. The ACCLEAN line of prophy angles is designed to deliver high torque and vibration-free operation. Just ask hygienist Donna Grzegorek, who told DPS, “There was no splatter, vibration, or chatter, and the angles never stalled.”

She also appreciated the user-friendly design that “adapted well to the handpiece and was effortless to place and remove.” Noting that “the cup checks many boxes for the clinician,” she explained, “It was very effective at removing interproximal stain on heavy smokers and coffee drinkers, and its efficacy reduced hand scaling time because it adapted so well to interproximal areas.”

Cup Design with Outer Ridges

ACCLEAN's new assortment of prophy angles features ergonomic and design enhancements that improve clinical outcomes. The hygienists who took part in this product review tested the soft, short, 4-web, ribbed prophy angle with outer ridges.

Unlike other prophy angles that Amber Metro-Sanchez considers way too rigid, the ACCLEAN prophy angle had “the perfect amount of flex and power.” She also appreciated the smaller packaging. Cathy Hendrickson’s goal was to get right along and slightly below the gingival margin while polishing, and said, “The flare of the ACCLEAN cup is wonderful and performed exactly as I had hoped.”

Jennifer Porter appreciated the ease of attaching the angle to the handpiece, and Grzegorek found the packaging easy to open. When asked about potential improvements, Porter suggested adding more flare to the cup, and Jennifer Collins said she prefers a cup that is “softer with more interproximal adaptation.”

Minimal Splatter and Vibration

“I used the ACCLEAN prophy angles on every patient until my samples ran out, and there was very little splatter,” said Becky McCarl, RDH. “It was perfect and worked much better than our current brand.”

Several other hygienists were equally impressed with splatter control, including Kim Williams, who said, “The cup design helped to reduce splatter, and there was smooth spin with no vibration.” Michele Byrd said the angles “seemed to hold the paste well,” but added, “The cup itself seemed a little too soft.” Acknowledging that she normally doesn’t like the vibration with disposable rubber prophy cups, Hendrickson said, “This one had no noticeable vibration.”

Ergonomics and Plaque/Stain Removal

The ACCLEAN prophy angles feature a grip designed for overall control and tactile sensitivity. The evaluators used the angles with outer ridges to maximize interproximal stain removal, but other options are available without outer ridges.

“This style of prophy cup feels more effective in pretty much every way with regard to removing stains and plaque from tooth surfaces,” remarked Angela Reeds, RDH. “The external ribbing helped reach the mesial and distal interproximal surfaces at the same time and also made it much easier to polish occlusal surfaces and mesial or distal surfaces of teeth with gaps around them." In addition, Reeds said, “The internal and external webbing/ribbing made removing stubborn black stain from interproximal line angles much easier and faster.”

“This prophy angle was quite flexible and allowed me to reach all tooth surfaces easily,” said Metro-Sanchez, who was “readily able to access these areas and remove stain efficiently” in a patient with a small mouth and stain on the upper and lower anterior teeth. “The prophy angle made rubber cup polishing easier,” noted Hendrickson. When using the angle on a patient with sensitivity, she reported, “The patient felt barely anything as I was polishing.”

Overall Satisfaction

Because the ACCLEAN prophy angles were so effective at removing stain, Grzegorek said she spent less time hand scaling. “In the long run, reduced scaling time lends itself to reduced hand fatigue, better ergonomics, better clinical outcomes, and more time to educate patients," she explained. Praising the prophy angle's reliability and performance, Metro-Sanchez concluded, “I was very impressed with its overall quality and am pleased to be able to offer my practice a high-quality prophy angle at a lower cost.”