​Up to half of the population suffers from periodontitis and at-home daily dental plaque control between dental visits is key to maintaining oral health. Gingivitis and periodontitis are a continuum of the same inflammatory disease; however, it does not follow that gingivitis will always progress to periodontitis. Evidence also indicates that interrupting the plaque colonisation process may well offer the most appropriate approach in helping to prevent the progression of periodontal diseases.

Unfortunately, it is also known that, for a variety of reasons, brushing and interdental cleaning alone may be insufficient to maintain an adequate level of plaque control in many people.

Limitations in the oral care routines of patients include:

  • The average brushing time is 46 seconds
  • Only 31 per cent of people claim to clean between their teeth with floss, despite agreement that flossing is necessary to protect oral health
  • Patients can lack the manual dexterity, the time or find flossing painful.

When to take action

Offering insight into the reality of patients’ situation, speaking at the launch of Oral Health Month earlier this year, Professor Iain Chapple, commented on the fact that periodontal disease prevalence has changed very little in the last 20 years, despite advancements in the understanding of, and approach to, periodontal disease.

Referencing the Economist Intelligence Unit’s White Paper on the societal and economic impact of periodontitis (2021), Professor Chapple asked, “What happens if we could eliminate incident gingivitis? The cost of doing that by empowering patients to look after for themselves at home more than halves the amount of money spent delivering that care.”

He continued, “The cost, however, of diagnosing and treating 90% of periodontitis, that is enormous. The costs of care tripled, and in some cases almost quadrupled because that's a big dental workforce demand to get periodontitis managed.”

He added that if you neglect gingivitis, then the cost of care increases significantly, because more disease develops and healthy life years reduce, resulting in more time off work, etc. Offering further insight into what is needed going forward, he stated a focus on oral health, not disease, was needed.

Attack plaque from every angle

It is widely accepted that the bacteria present in dental plaque are a major cause of caries and periodontal disease, and that prevention of these conditions requires removal of that plaque.

Reinforcing this idea, Boyle and colleagues (2014) wrote, “Dental plaque is the main cause of oral diseases and can be removed mechanically by ‘effective’ brushing and flossing.”

Whilst the standard recommendation is to brush the teeth and clean interdentally, evidence suggests that the adjunctive use of a mouthwash may provide benefits beyond mechanical cleaning.

Rinsing reaches virtually 100 per cent of the mouth and LISTERINE® penetrates the plaque biofilm, kills 99.9 per cent of germs and helps reduce the repopulation rate of bacteria.

New published data reveals how to tackle interproximal plaque with essential oils-based LISTERINE®

For patients who brush and floss, adding LISTERINE® reduces interproximal plaque by 28.4 per cent versus brushing and flossing alone. For those who don’t floss, LISTERINE® is shown to reduce interproximal plaque above the gumline by 4.6x versus floss. Of course, not all patients are the same - attack plaque from every angle. Make an evidence-based recommendation with LISTERINE®.

For further information, visit listerineprofessional.co.uk

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