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Jamming on the Sonicare AirFloss

May 5, 2011 By Trish Walraven 6 Comments

by Trish Walraven

I’m taking flossing to the airwaves. Mah NUMPH bErrr BEHRRRRR… Don’t my riffs sound great?

No?

But it’s air guitar, man, use your imagination! Feel the energy, the passion, the creative flow that turns all of us into rock stars on our gaming consoles!

Something you may not have realized is that you are already a star, at least in the eyes of your patients. A Dental Star. Rock on. Your opinions are gold. Patients ask which toothpaste is best? Which mouthwash should they be using?

One question they never ask is “What should I use to clean between my teeth?” Do patients even register a thought about their interproximal surfaces? Here’s a question for you as a person, not as a dental professional: how often do you think about the skin between your toes? (toejam. eww.)

My point exactly.

But we think about the skin between teeth all the time. That’s where we see the most gingivitis, the highest plaque scores, the most room for improvement. And we’re tired of laying guilt trips on our patients when we realize that they’re not flossing.

That’s when you want to be able to point to alternatives and say to your non-flossers, “Maybe this will work for you.”

Water Piks are wet, messy, and have been around since the 1960’s. Still, they are my go-to recommendation for non-mechanical biofilm reduction because I see improvements in bleeding scores with patients who use them daily. They are also ubiquitous and affordable, making them more attractive than some of the higher priced or obscure dental water jets.

What’s that? Philips has a new gadget that competes with Water Pik? Well, Philips products can be bought everywhere, too! Can you say, “market penetration?” Can you say, “a funhouse explosion in your mouth?”

It’s called the Sonicare AirFloss, and it was introduced to the world a few weeks ago at the International Dental Show in Germany. Philips is being cheeky about it at the moment, but it looks to be making its American debut at the California Dental Association Meeting in Anaheim next week.

The Sonicare AirFloss is said to replace flossing with micro-bursts of water and air. Fill its reservoir with a few teaspoons of mouthwash or water and you’re ready to blast the little legs off your biofilm bugs.

As of this writing, the only way to learn more about the AirFloss is to sign your office up for a Lunch and Learn at the Sonicare website. Who would turn down free food and a nugget of sponsored CE credit to expand their knowledge base about a product that patients will soon be coming to us for answers about its worthiness?

I am always intrigued by the buzz about new preventive products. As an idea that Philips recently acquired with the purchase of Discus Dental, the Air Floss is being presented in a warm fuzzy cushion of patient acceptance. Do patients like this more than flossing? Do they like it more than using a Water Pik? This presentation makes me think that the science behind the product hasn’t shown the health results that Philips had hoped it would. Watch this video from the IDS in Cologne and see what you think. This is Maria Perno Goldie, RDH Village eFocus editor:




And then there’s me. My family will be so thankful when we get an AirFloss because it might just keep me from pretending to be on American Idol when I think I’m alone in the bathroom:



Concert yell, WooOOOOOOOO!

Living the dream, baby.


Thanks, Star Dental, for the shirt. You rock, too.



5/13/11 Update: The AirFloss is now live on the Sonicare Website!

Filed Under: Preventive Care, Products Tagged With: advertising, AirFloss, linkedin, new products, Philips, preventive care, Sonicare, Water Pik

Comments

  1. Eva Watson says

    May 5, 2011 at 3:38 pm

    You truly are the ultimate geek. I love it. They should totally make a toejam disruptor.

    Reply
  2. Robyn says

    June 3, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    I want this, where can i find it at? Please e-mail me at [email protected]

    Reply
  3. Steve says

    June 3, 2011 at 7:58 pm

    I saw this at the recent AAO meeting last week in Chicago. It is very interesting and should work well as you become accustomed to it.

    Reply
  4. TRACIE says

    July 7, 2011 at 7:59 am

    I just received my airflosser and I really like it. However, I do have a couple of suggestions….

    1. IT WOULD BE A NICE FEATURE TO HAVE SOME TYPE OF CAP OR COVER FOR THE TIP.

    2. ALSO SOME TYPE OF TRAVEL CASE. MAYBE ONE THAT WOULD ALSO HOLD A SMALL BOTTLE TO REFILL THE FLUID COMPARTMENT.

    THANKS

    Reply
  5. Lee says

    November 16, 2012 at 11:28 am

    You had me laughing so hard over and over. Have you considered stand-up comedy. I loved reading your blog… and all because I wanted to know if the Air Floss was actually as good as a Water Pik. Thanks for brightening my day!

    Reply
    • buzzadmin says

      November 16, 2012 at 12:41 pm

      Trish says thanks, Lee, and wishes she could do stand up comedy except that she laughs at her own jokes (which is really annoying if you’ve ever seen a comedian that laughs at things that aren’t funny).

      Reply

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DentalBuzz explores rising trends in dentistry with its own slant. The speed at which new products and ideas enter the dental field can often outpace our ability to understand just exactly the direction in which we are heading. But somehow, by being a little less serious about dentistry and dental care, we might get closer to making sense of it all.

So yeah, a tongue-in-cheek pun would fit really nicely here, but that would be in bad taste. Never mind, it just happened anyways. Stop reading sidebars already and click on some content instead.

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