AirFloss – a popular alternative …?

PD Dr. Kristina Bertl, PhD MSc MBA

Interdental cleaning is not a favourite activity for most patients. Furthermore, based on a survey of 2000 representative Americans, it was found that almost a third of patients lie to their dentist when asked about their teeth-cleaning habits and, in particular, about the use of dental floss. Having said that, it is our responsibility to recommend the best tool for effective interdental cleaning for each of our patients – in terms of effective plaque removal, but also in terms of long-term compliance.

So, when we notice that periodontitis patients undergoing maintenance therapy are losing motivation to regularly use interdental brushes and that they are already showing the first signs of inflammation, what should we do? Our top recommendation for periodontitis patients should be the interdental brush, but if we notice that – despite repeated attempts to motivate the patient on our part – these brushes are not being used, or are being used less and less often, we should have an alternative at the ready. The Sonicare AirFloss could be one such alternative.

A recently published study (Bertl et al. 2021) showed that the daily application of the Sonicare AirFloss over a period of six months can reduce the signs of gingival inflammation among periodontitis patients in maintenance therapy. Perhaps even more important, however, were the following findings:

1. Approximately 80% of patients said that they were very satisfied with the Sonicare AirFloss.
2. Approximately two thirds of patients reported that they preferred the Sonicare AirFloss to the method previously used to clean the area between their teeth (mainly interdental brushes).

Reference

Bertl, K., Edlund Johansson, P., & Stavropoulos, A (2021) Patients' opinion on the use of 2 generations of power-driven water flossers and their impact on gingival inflammation. Clinical and Experimental Dental Research, 1–7.