Checklists - Universal Care

• Raise awareness that the prevention of periodontal disease is a lifelong commitment that is worth making to keep a healthy smile throughout a productive life
• Remind that maintaining healthy gums helps to avert discomfort, extra costs and helps maintain more pleasant social interactions
• Brush teeth at least twice a day using fluoride toothpaste and use interdental cleaners daily

Complete or review patient screener - has something changed?

• Inform that taking care of oral health is an investment in one’s overall health. Maintaining healthy gums protects patients from the potentially adverse effects of gum disease on general health 

• Recommend 2-minute brushing twice daily using appropriate modified Bass technique
• Budget permitting, recommend power brushes to better care for gingival inflammation and plaque levels
• Discuss daily interdental cleaning and explain it helps to clean where a toothbrush cannot
• Space permitting, recommend easy to-use interdental brushes and rubber interdentals cleaners as most effective method shown to promote compliance
• Nutrition guide when needed
• Remind to change toothbrush or toothbrush head at least every 12 weeks and interdental cleaners as recommended on pack
• Schedule regular dental check-ups and cleanings

• Use consistent, friendly and encouraging instruction
• Raise awareness about gingivitis and periodontitis and discuss consequences of poor oral care habits
• Discuss risk of tooth loss and inform about peri-implantitis and its cost
• Gently recommend change of habits to improve compliance and avoid tooth loss
• Inform that inappropriate interdental cleaning and traumatic tooth brushing are common non-compliant behaviors 
• Traumatic tooth brushing can lead to damage of dental or periodontal tissue and cause gingival recession, dentine hypersensitivity, plaque accumulation, development of caries and/or non-carious cervical lesions, endodontic complications, gingival inflammation and periodontal attachment loss
• Inappropriate interdental cleaning can lead to dental decay and gingivitis/periodontitis. Always remind patients that a toothbrush alone cannot reach all tooth surfaces, making interdental cleaning essential.

Complete or review patient screener - has something changed?

• Discuss to uncover patients’ lifestyle risk factors & possible co-morbidities in order to provide differential recommendations
• Remind about oral hygiene best practices, nutrition and frequency of visits to maintain to oral health and protect overall health

• Provide friendly tips and tricks on how to form good habits. Reinforce 2-minute brushing twice daily using appropriate modified Bass technique and the use of appropriate tools. Recommend daily interdental cleaning and explain it helps to clean where your toothbrush cannot
• Budget permitting, recommend oral care approaches that increase compliance
• Power brushes are likely significantly more effective for the low compliant population (budget permitting)
• Give preference to interdental brushes/rubber interdental cleaners due to ease of use, ideal for the non-compliant.
• Remind frequency of visits and schedule regular dental check-ups and cleanings
• Nutrition guide when needed
• Refer to dentist as needed

• GUM ORTHO range
• GUM SONIC and GUM PowerCARE™ power toothbrushes
• GUM SOFT-PICKS rubber interdental cleaners - patient preferred and particularly easy to use. Ideal to drive adoption of interdental cleaning
• GUM RED-COTE tablets for plaque discovery 
• GUM PerioBalance® tablets for balanced oral microflora

Targeted toothpaste solutions