To celebrate 25 years of Dentistry magazine, we’ve asked leading dental professionals for their game-changing innovation that shaped their career. In this article we asked Christina Chatfield what her game-changing product is.
Christina Chatfield qualified as a hygienist in Dundee in 1982 and moved to Brighton in 1994 with her three young children.
She brings a wealth of experience from her clinical role of 19 years.
She is clinical director and hygienist at the Dental Health Spa and is the DH&T Hygienist of the Year 2012.
Air polishing
As an owner, buyer and hygienist I knew immediately when asked what I would write about.
There are not many products from a hygienist point of view that have evolved over the last 25 years, that enhance every aspect of your daily practice from both the clinical and patient perspective.
From an owners point of view, when I opened Dental Health Spa in 2007 I wanted to market something different to the Brighton consumer that other dental practices were not offering to their hygiene patients.
So I invested in two air polishing units using bicarbonate of soda for stain removal.
It wasn’t new, they had been around for 30 years.
Like everything technology evolves, things improve because research shows us where we want/need more as clinicians for health.
From a consumer/customer view it’s about comfort, aesthetics, health and feel.
Perio Plus Powder
Move forward 30 years and EMS, through research and development, bring Perio Plus Powder to the market.
Erythritol enhancing comfort, efficacy, ease of use and more importantly, removal of biofilm.
Combine with the new Air Flow Piezon Prophylaxis Master, a delivery system using Erythritol for biofilm and stain removal backed by clinical evidence and a strong emphasis on patient home care, we have new modality for treating our patients – guided biofilm therapy.
The extra fine grains are only 14 microns, which makes it great to use on the soft tissues, including the tongue and in the pockets, disrupting and killing biofilm and removing stain.
This is used on dentine, composites and implants too.
One powder that does everything, no changing of powder.
The proof really is in the pudding.
We have two new units and the older style master.
Now we have three surgeries running, so I need to buy a third unit.
The warmer water, pain-free peizon technology and softer, pleasant-tasting powder means that the patient experience is so much nicer.
My hygiene therapy team would echo my words on the patient experience and from a user experience it makes their working day better.
Guided biofilm therapy
Guided Biofilm Therapy is the systematic, predictable solution for dental biofilm management in professional prophylaxis.
It uses state-of-the-art Airflow, Perioflow and Piezon technologies.
It is also proven by scientific evidence.
Guided biofilm therapy consists of treatment protocols based on individual patient diagnosis and risk assessment in order to achieve optimal results.
The treatment is consequently given in the least invasive way, with the highest level of comfort, safety and efficiency.
Guided biofilm therapy includes oral hygiene instructions with Philips Sonicare toothbrushes and Airfloss plus patient education and motivation to maintain natural teeth and implants for as long as possible.
For more information visit www.ems-dental.com/en/guided-biofilm-therapy.
