Aug 13, 2021
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Interdental Cleaning, Extremely Important, but Still Underestimated
Prevention and management of gum disease rely mainly on a patient’s ability and commitment to clean his or her own teeth effectively. Interdental cleaning is extremely important, as a toothbrush can only reach three out of 5 tooth surfaces.
Regrettably, compliance with a daily oral hygiene routine at home is one of the greatest issues in dental care as patients often do not follow recommendations from healthcare providers. In fact, studies of patient adherence to recommended regiments show that approximately 30-60% of health information is forgotten within 1 hour, and that 50% of health recommendations are not followed.
Latest generation products improve outcomes
Flossing is the most well-known method for cleaning in between teeth. Flossing can be effective, but studies have shown that it is a technically challenging task. High quality flossing is difficult to achieve. Its efficacy is reduced if an incorrect technique is used and patient compliance with flossing is low.
Interdental brushes have been shown to be superior to floss in interdental plaque index scores, in the reduction in gingival inflammation, and have been associated with a significantly reduced rate of gingivitis compared to floss.
Recent studies have also highlighted the benefits of latest generation metal-free rubber interdental cleaners such as GUM® SOFT-PICKS®. Rubber interdental cleaners have been shown to be equally effective as interdental brushes in the reduction of interdental plaque, gum inflammation and bleeding. They easily and thoroughly clean spaces of different sizes, including wide interdental spaces. Their elastic bristles enable the cleaning of root concavities that dental floss cannot reach.
Additionally, rubber interdental cleaners with a conically shaped cleaning area (GUM SOFT-PICKS ADVANCED) enable effective cleaning even with non-uniform interdental spaces - which means that implants, bridges or orthodontic devices can also be properly cleaned. To specifically address individual needs, GUM SOFT-PICKS ADVANCED come in small, regular and large sizes.
Ease of use drives compliance and favours positive outcomes
Studies demonstrate that less demanding methods of interdental cleaning are associated with increased compliance and thus improve patient outcomes.
To date, several randomized controlled studies have evaluated patient acceptance with floss, interdental brushes and rubber interdental cleaners.
These studies have shown that patients prefer interdental brushes compared with floss, and that they find the latest generation of metal-free rubber interdental cleaners even easier to use than brushes. This concurs with the result of an earlier study which found that compliance with the metal-free rubber interdental cleaner is even higher than with a classic interdental brush - with the same cleaning performance.
Product choice and user compliance
Rubber interdental cleaners - such as the GUM SOFT-PICKS - offer a metal-free easy to use alternative to "classic" interdental brushes. They have proven to be very effective to help patients adopt interdental cleaning. They are also convenient and easy to use on the go or during the day. Rubber interdental cleaners come in different sizes to ensure that each individual interdental space is cleaned as effectively as possible. They are gentle on hard tooth tissue and dental restorations and cause less gingival abrasion than metal interdental brushes. Finally, the flexible filaments of GUM SOFT-PICKS and GUM SOFT-PICKS ADVANCED both gently stimulate and micro-massage the gums for a pleasant sensation in addition to optimal gingival cleaning.
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