Catching Up with New Dental Technology

Ok... As you can tell by some of my posts I work in the dental field.  I've been a dental hygienist for 20 years now.  I consider myself a good hygienist.  I'm not the best but I'm not the worst not by any stretch of the imagination.  I take way more continuing education than is necessary to keep my license current. I try to stay up to date on new techniques and technologies and if it were up to me and I ran my own business I would have more of these things. But alas that's not how it works in the dental game.  Hygienists are still under the guise of the dentist so therefore we work for/with them.  Fortunately, I work with a dentist who likes to stay on the cutting edge with his education & technologies as much as he can afford too. Dang it if dental equipment weren't so darn expensive!  Well, anyway...he likes to get new things when possible and can be fit in our budget.  

He recently purchased the lastest Cerec machine which will allow the dentists in my practice to fit a crown for our patients in 1 visit and save them from coming back and missing possibly more work.  It's a pretty cool machine too.  We're also adding a new oral cancer screening tool to our practice called Oral-ID.  Oral cancer is on the rise and  there have been many screening tools that have come to the market over the last few years.  Some require the patient to rinse with this horrid tasting solution and a little disposable light wand is use to look in the mouth.  Then there is the Velscope & Identifi which uses fluorescing technology but they are pricey.  The Oral-ID uses the same technology but is smaller and less expensive to use. Therefore it's less expensive to the patient for their

screening :-)  It's a win, win for everyone around. We have better screening tools beside just our naked eyes and patients doen't have to pay an arm & a leg for their cancer screenings!  Looks like a flashlight doesn't it.  Pretty cool! Can't wait to start screening my patients and offering them a little more peace of mind.  With all the media goings on about Michael Douglas' oral cancer and HPV.  This little handheld device will help dental professionals give better care to their patients. 

Does your dentist or doctor use an oral cancer screening aid?  If not, let them know that there is an affordable way to provide this service to their patients. 

The Dreaded "F" Word

I'm sure most of you hate going to the dentist.  I hear it every day from my own patients. But be honest it's not all that bad. Dentistry and dental hygiene have come a long way over the years I have to admit myself.  In the 25 years that I've been in dentistry, 5 as a dental assistant and the last 20 as a Registered Dental Hygienists, I my self have seen plenty of changes. Some for the better and some not so good.  The good stuff is the technological advances that I've seen such as DNA testing for periodontal disease, digital radiology, advances in oral cancer detection & decay control just to name a few. I will address some of these new technologies in future blogs. But today I want to talk about the old FLOSS.  

I know, I know you don't wanna hear the "F" word from your hygienist.  Well, I think you're going to be surprised about my feeling as a hygienist about floss.  I think floss is crap. Most people don't use it properly anyway so why bother. Plus no one wants to use it a for one thing anyway, not even me.  Yes, you heard me right. I hate to floss! I didn't say I didn't clean in between my teeth.  No you didn't hear or read that.  I said I hate to use floss. I tell my patients that I think it's because I floss their teeth.  I figured it up one time and I floss over 32,000 teeth a year.  That's a lot of flossing!! So I'm adding mind to that number...hehehe Besides there are many other means of cleaning between your teeth than just using string. I say most people are "allergic to string" anyway...LOL 

Let's talk about some of my favorite floss alternatives.

Proxabrushes  or Interdental Brush
There are a myriad of different proxabrushes now. Every shape and size is available.  Gum makes some nice ones shown here.  

Also Dentek makes a quality product and their prices seem to be a little more affordable.  

I love their Easy Brushes.  They come in a variety of sizes in a bag of 16 and cost less than $4.00 at most department stores like Wal-Mart & Target.

Electric Flossers

Waterpik makes a cute little battery operated flosser. The tip of it is even coated with a whitening substance.  I've not tried the particular version but I've used an older model and it was ok.  Better than not cleaning in between your teeth at all anyway.  I always say "somethings better than nothing". 

Oral-b has the Hummingbird flosser.  It's just regular floss and the handle vibrates. Not very inventive really. 

Recently added to the flossing market is the Sonicare AirFloss.  I

purchased and AirFloss at a dental conference in 2011 when it first became available. I really like this device.  It works really well speaking from my own experience. I've even used it after I brushed and gotten lots of stuff out from between my teeth and I'm a great brusher if I do say so myself :)  The way this little gadget works is there is a reservoir on the handle that you fill with water. I like to put mouthwash in mine for a minty flavor ;) Then you place the tip between your teeth and press a button and it sends blast of liquid and air between your teeth and forces the plaque and debris out. 

So you can see you don't have to use string to clean between your teeth anymore. There are plenty of other options and some of them much better than floss too.  I've only touched on a few examples there are many, many more.  All you have to do is search around and find what works for you. One size does NOT fit all. Keep trying things until the next time you see your hygienist she says... "What have you been using? Your oral care is so much better than last visit."  You'll be happy because your preventive care visit will go much better and you won't get the old flossing lecture from your hygienist. 

Have a great day and happy interdental cleaning!! 

Your Smiling RDH,

Sherri