By Vicki Cheeseman, Associate Editor
Procter & Gamble Oral Health — in cooperation with experienced orthodontists Dr. Duncan Y. Brown, Dr. Terry Carlyle, and dental resident Darren Isfeld — has developed Ortho Essentials, the first of its kind, three-step oral hygiene program designed to boost oral health and hygiene practices in orthodontic patients.
The Ortho Essentials program is now helping U.S. orthodontic practices streamline and strengthen their oral hygiene control procedures through these three steps:
- Step 1 — ASSESS: standardizing the check-up
- Step 2 — REPORT: consistently reporting results
- Step 3 — EMPOWER: improving oral hygiene practice at home
We are pleased to offer an exclusive interview with Drs. Duncan Brown and Leslie Winston.
J. Leslie Winston, DDS, PhD, is director, North America Professional & Scientific Relations, P&G Professional Oral Health. She is responsible for representing Crest Oral-B science and products to the dental community, dental professional organizations, and opinion leaders. Dr. Winston has previous experience in clinical trials research and technology development. She received her dental degree from the University of Iowa and her PhD in oral biology from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as her certificate in periodontology. Her work experience includes both private practice and an academic teaching appointment. Dr. Winston has published her research extensively and presented at major dental meetings around the world.
Dr. Duncan Brown is an orthodontist practicing in Calgary, Alberta, since 1978 and a member of the Canadian Association of Orthodontists and the American Association of Orthodontists. His experience also includes teaching engagements with the University of Alberta, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Brown has taught for companies such as Practiceworks, Ormco Damon System, and Procter & Gamble, conducting lectures on practice management, clinical efficiency, the role of technology in orthodontics, and quality control. Most recently, Dr. Brown worked with P&G to develop the OrthoCare/OrthoEssential program.
Could you please describe the P&G Ortho Essentials program?
Ortho Essentials is the first of its kind three-step oral hygiene program designed to boost oral health and hygiene practices in orthodontic patients. It offers orthodontic offices a turnkey program that standardizes the way patients are evaluated and how the results are reported. It also empowers patients to own their oral health and help promote at-home compliance, leading to a successful end result. The program includes the following steps:
• Step 1 — ASSESS: Standardize the check-up among all staff members by utilizing the Ortho Essentials five-level rating system.
• Step 2 — REPORT: Consistently report the patient’s oral hygiene at each visit by all staff members.
• Step 3 — EMPOWER: Improve oral hygiene practices at home with the right products and techniques to optimize results. This step of the program includes the Ortho Essentials Regimen, which features the Oral-B Triumph with SmartGuide Ortho Unit, Crest PRO-HEALTH Toothpaste, and Crest PRO-HEALTH Rinse. A recent study demonstrated that after two weeks, orthodontic patients who used the Ortho Essentials Regimen had up to 40% less plaque.1
What was the impetus behind the development of Ortho Essentials?
We've seen too many patients with poor oral hygiene and how it affects the outcome of treatment. It impacts the quality of the results and prolongs treatment time. We saw that patient care was too reactive; there needed to be a more proactive and collaborative approach for both the orthodontist and the patient. The Ortho Essentials program addresses that by offering a way for orthodontist offices to standardize and enhance treatment while providing patients with the tools to take care of their mouths during their treatment and for the rest of their lives with the Ortho Essentials Regimen.
What do you see as the problem areas of hygiene control procedures in many U.S. orthodontic practices today?
The biggest problem areas of hygiene control that we’ve seen are that there is not a standardized way to evaluate and report treatment and that patients do not practice healthy at-home routines. We feel the Ortho Essentials program will be a huge asset to orthodontists’ offices because it will help address these problem areas in a way that empowers patients to participate in their plaque control rather than just telling them that they need to do better with their home care.
What solutions does the Ortho Essentials program offer that are innovative and effective?
Ortho Essentials provides practices with innovative and effective tools to help patients own their oral health and chart the patient’s progress:
• The program offers an easy-to-follow five-level rating system ranging from poor to excellent. Orthodontists can use the visual Healthy Mouth Assessment Card, which helps illustrate each rating level so the office team and patients have a standard to compare.
• Orthodontist practices can even receive a customizable program kit with components that can be co-branded with each specific practice's identity.
• It also takes the guesswork out of home care for the patient through the Ortho Essentials Regimen — Oral-B Triumph with SmartGuide Ortho Unit, Crest PRO-HEALTH Toothpaste, and Crest PRO-HEALTH Rinse.
What suggestions do you have for dentists and their teams to employ as they seek to strengthen their hygiene control procedures?
Dentists and teams can strengthen their hygiene control procedures by standardizing the way they treat patients and empowering patients to improve their oral health with the right products and tools. This enhances communication because everyone uses the same assessment criteria to track the progress of the patient (dental professionals, the patient, and the parents). The program clearly fosters enhanced communication between the orthodontic office and the referring dental practice. The dental hygienist will have a much clearer understanding of what the patient has been told and his or her ongoing home-care status when the patient is seen for check-ups.
Do you have anything else to share with dental professionals through your clinical experience with the development of Ortho Essentials?
For more information about the Ortho Essentials program, visit www.dentalcare.com/ortho or speak with your local Crest/Oral-B sales rep.
References
1. P&G data on file.