Floss is not always the most effective approach to interdental cleaning for every patient: Open contacts or splinted fixed restorations can pose a challenge for some patients, while others simply do not know how to floss effectively. It's important to be able to offer patients alternatives to floss. In this article, Colleen Olson, RDH, BBA, reviews the TePe Interdental Brush Kit.
Walking down the dental care aisle at the grocery store can be overwhelming for our patients. A wide variety of options is available for every kind of oral care product: toothbrushes, toothpastes, floss, interdental aids, and mouth rinses, among other adjuncts. A big part of our job as hygienists is directing patients to the best tools to help them maintain optimal oral health. One of my favorite oral care products is the TePe Interdental Brush Kit.
The variations in width and handle type make this product suitable for many different kinds of patients. TePe Interdental Brushes are perfect for patients who refuse to floss, patients who have limited dexterity, patients with wide or oddly shaped embrasures, patients with tooth concavities, and patients who have areas of food impaction.
I am not a huge fan of beating my patients over the head with the “You must floss every day!” lecture; instead, I encourage them to find an interdental product that they will actually use and then recommend that they use that product every day. Some patients in our practice seem to be more willing to use an interdental brush than floss, so I almost always suggest the TePe Interdental Brushes as a flossing alternative.
These brushes are fantastic for patients with limited dexterity. The angled interdental brushes have a longer handle, and the brush is mounted at about 90 degrees, making them easy to use in hard-to-reach posterior areas. Both the original and angled versions are effective at removing plaque and food debris in a variety of embrasures and tooth concavities.
One of the best things about the TePe Interdental Brushes is the wide array of available sizes. This makes it possible to find just the right size brush to fill an embrasure, slip under a patient’s bridge, or use around an implant. At our office, we have a large sample kit that we use to help our patients find the perfect size interdental brush. The brush sizes are color-coded, so once we determine the appropriate size(s) for a patient, he or she knows exactly what to purchase. TePe Interdental Brushes are available on the TePe website in packs of 6 and 25 and on Amazon in packs of 6, 8, and 25. Patients can also purchase multipacks on Amazon if they need to use a wide variety of sizes.
Some sizes of the TePe Original Interdental Brushes are also available in an ultrasoft-bristle version called Gentle Care. These brushes are meant for patients who may have delicate gum tissue due to xerostomia or recent dental procedures. The Gentle Care brushes are also ideal for patients in orthodontics or patients with implants or other oral hardware. All TePe Interdental Brushes have a plastic-coated wire, which makes them safe to use around all types of dental restorations.
When it comes to interdental care, many patients love to have options other than floss. The TePe Interdental Brush Kit is a go-to product in our practice that has helped numerous patients improve their oral health. I am glad to have a product that we can recommend with confidence to our patients who may need to try something different to keep their interproximal spaces free from plaque and debris.
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MORE READING:
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Joshua Austin, DDS, FAGD, demos TePe's Interdental Brush Kit (VIDEO)
Colleen M. Olson, RDH, BBA, is an editorial director for the e-newsletter, Pearls for Your Practice: The Product Navigator. She earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Texas A&M University in 2008 and worked in sales for five years. She graduated from the Blinn College Dental Hygiene program in 2013. She is a full-time mom to Bonnie Grace and currently a part-time hygienist in private practice in San Antonio, Texas. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband, Zach, and their families.
