The Hygiene Message in a Bottle Mailbag is a monthly feature of the e-newsletter, Pearls for Your Practice: The Product Navigator. Each month, Colleen Olson, RDH, BBA, the editorial director of the Hygiene Product Navigator, will answer reader-submitted questions to help you navigate your dental hygiene product decisions (and more!). This month, she shares what products she uses for sensitivity relief when preprocedural paste and fluoride varnish aren't enough.
What is the best product for semipermanent sensitivity relief on teeth and roots when preprocedural paste and varnish have not worked?
Answer
Hi! Thanks for the question. Tooth sensitivity is a painful and annoying problem. It can cause patients to avoid certain types of food or drink or cause them to avoid certain areas when brushing or flossing, leading to less-than-optimal home care.
When patients present with tooth or root sensitivity, the products we typically recommend first are concentrated fluoride products, such as fluoride varnish and prescription-strength fluoride toothpaste. We might also apply an arginine paste like Colgate’s Pre-Procedural Desensitizing Paste. If those products fail to provide relief to a patient with sensitivity, or if a patient’s sensitivity is particularly life-altering or severe, we might turn to an additional product in our office’s desensitizing lineup: Tokuyama’s Shield Force Plus desensitizer.
This product is a light-cured, fluoride-releasing desensitizer that goes on green for visibility and cures clear so that it provides a thin, durable, invisible coating to sensitive teeth and root surfaces. It is simple to prepare and apply and provides instant, long-lasting relief to patients with dentinal hypersensitivity. It is an easy product to love because the effects are apparent immediately. I used it on one patient who practically jumped out of my chair with every gentle spray of the air syringe. Just after the application of Shield Force Plus, I could dry all of her teeth without any pain or reaction.
This product is durable and withstands abrasion and erosion from overzealous tooth brushing and abrasive toothpaste. The protective effects can last up to three years, but it can also be easily applied every six months at recall appointments if the need arises. Shield Force Plus is an outstanding option for treating patients with hypersensitivity when other products haven’t gotten the job done.
Editor's note: Do you have a question for Colleen? Is there a product you'd like to see her review? Or would you like to submit your own hygiene product article? Send an e-mail to [email protected]. You might just see it in the Hygiene Product Navigator! If you're not a Product Navigator subscriber, click here to sign up.
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