A Look at Products for By Lynn Schneider, Owner, DentaKit.com here are hundreds of dental tools and gadgets on the market. As a busy dentist, you don't have time to research which ones are best for your orthodontic patients. Over the past 10 years our company, DentaKit.com, has been providing products directly to orthodontic patients. In this arti-cle I hope to help you find the best products for your patients in braces and retainers by sharing the results of our years of product research. Your patients can get many of the prod-ucts we mention in this article on our website. Orthodontic Patients T Orthodontic Toothbrushes Brushing is the first line of defense for orthodontic oral hygiene. However, most orthodon-tic patients don't really understand how to brush properly, and that could lead to calculus buildup and problems. It doesn't really matter whether your patients use a manual or an electric toothbrush as long as they brush correctly several times per day. It's worthwhile to show the patient how to properly brush their braces, because most patients don't intuitively understand that they should angle the toothbrush above and below the brackets. Probably the biggest shock for new orthodontic patients is the amount of time they now spend taking care of their teeth. Between brushing and flossing, a routine that used to take 3 minutes can now take up to 15 minutes! Re-assure them that with time and practice, they'll get faster at their new routine. 20 September/October 2013 JAOS Patients can use a regular tooth-brush to keep their braces clean, but they may be more comfortable with an orthodontic toothbrush. Several companies make v-trim manual toothbrushes which patients find easy to use. These toothbrushes have middle bristles cut shorter than outside bristles. The bristles form the letter “v.”hence the name “v-trim.” We like the Ortho-Pro toothbrush because it's soft, sturdy, and the handle is ergonomically angled for good control. Oral-B and Sunstar GUM also make good high-quality manual v-trim toothbrushes. For a portable dental kit, durable v-trim travel toothbrushes are avail-able from Ora-Line, Sunstar GUM, and other companies. Remember that manual v-trim orthodontic toothbrushes are usually not sold in local stores. Your patients will rely on you to supply these toothbrushes, or they will need to search online to find them. Electric toothbrushes can do an excellent job of cleaning orthodon-tic brackets. Sonicare doesn't make an orthodontic head for their tooth-brushes, but the regular head works very well as long as the patient angles the brush head around the brackets. The sonic vibration of the Sonicare gives the added advantage of stimulating blood flow to the gums. Oral-B also makes an effec-tive orthodontic head for their elec-tric toothbrushes, and their oscillat-ing motion has been shown to do an excellent job in plaque removal. As you may expect, electric toothbrush heads don't last quite as long when your patient is brushing braces. Encourage your patient to replace their electric toothbrush head every 3 months for the most effective cleaning. Dental Picks and Spiral Brushes A dental pick or a spiral brush can be a wonderfully effective tool for dislodging food debris before the orthodontic patient brushes their teeth. Some of the best tools on the market are made by Denticator. Unfortunately, Denticator doesn't sell their tools to patients in local stores anymore (but they are avail-able online at some internet retail stores, and through dental supply catalogs). The Pick-a-Dent is incredi-bly sturdy and doubles as a peri-odontal tool. (Fig. 1) Just one Pick-a-Dent can last a patient for months. Denticator also makes a double-edged tool called the Tip-a-Dent, where one side is a spiral brush, and the other side is a non-latex rubber-ized tip. The Tip-a-Dent is also great for dislodging food debris from under the arch wire. The tips snap on and are replaceable. There are a myriad of other simi-lar products that your patients can get in almost any drugstore. Sunstar GUM and Dentek both make high-quality spiral brushes, plastic picks, and rubber tip gum massagers in a variety of sizes and shapes. Orthodontic Dental Floss The market for orthodontic dental floss has really exploded in the past ten years. Your patient now has a
Journal of the American Orthodontic Society September-October 2013: Page 20
