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“We heart hygienists. NOT!” says P&G

March 22, 2014 By Trish Walraven 15 Comments

 

this is not actually Dr. Smiley McHappypants

Don’t you love it when corporations pretend to listen to criticism, act like they care about the concerns of consumers, make empty promises? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

In light of all the flak that Procter & Gamble has received in response to our previous entry about plastic in Crest toothpaste that has seen a GINORMOUS readership (thank you to all the hygienists who have been alarmed and continue to share the story!) I thought it might be fun to imagine what the company REALLY would like to say to all of us who are creating a nuisance for them.

 

 From the desk of Dr. Smiley McHappypants, DDS
 VP Global, Professional and Scientific Relations
 Procter & Gamble
 8700 S Mason Montgomery Rd
 Mason, OH 45040

To every primadonna dental hygienist,

Here you go again, making a big deal out of nothing. We’re not ignoring the fact that you exist this time, and apparently in our marketing efforts we should have. As an example, here’s the latest Crest TV ad that you’re complaining about:

What is your F*&#ing problem? The actress says her hygienist is awesome, right? Look, we’re agreeing with so many of you who think your dentist is an idiot because they can’t tell whether or not patients have even had their teeth cleaned yet. What’s so insulting about that? Yet over and over, we get requests to take this off the air. Not gonna happen. We have too much money invested in this product line and these advertising spots to worry about what a bunch of worthless tooth-scrapers think.

Yes, I called you a tooth scraper. That’s what we think of you. Your purpose in life is to nag and torment patients. And you whine and complain when we try to OUT YOU for who you really are! We spent more than your lifetime earnings warning consumers about your evil ways with magazine ads like this one:


Escapescrape
So what if we get constant complaints that the ingredients in the Pro-Health products actually contribute to stain and require MORE scraping?


prohealthstain
Since we’re big and organized, and you are small and diffuse, you can share photos like this one all you want, but it won’t matter. You don’t have the resources to keep Procter & Gamble from increasing the bottom line for our stakeholders. Maybe it’s just all one sick joke that we’re pulling over on patients and hygienists alike. Naw, that would be over the top. The truth is that we really don’t give a $h!† what you think.

Which brings us to this latest overreaction of yours. Hello? There’s plastic in EVERYTHING! What’s the problem with pretty polyethylene confetti in toothpaste? After all, if your patients swallow it, just tell them to poop. It’ll go away, like fiber. That’s our official line. Plastic is the same as dietary fiber!

When we tested our latest toothpastes, you know, the ones with the new, vibrant names? Be Adventurous? Be Inspired? Be Dynamic? We had many focus groups try the products and they loved them. No one even questioned the plastic. Granted, we didn’t actually tell the users what it was, but since none of them were crunchy granola tree-huggers we didn’t figure they would care. The brown, green, and yellow specks are an important part of the “total product experience.” We want our stakeholders to be happy, and they like the way the unique colors give the toothpaste an exciting aura. It’s all about the feeling, you know.

BEcolorexamples

And those specks getting stuck under the gums? Well, honey, it’s your word against ours. We have study after study that proves that plastic doesn’t harm us. Even though the FDA doesn’t specifically approve plastic in toothpaste, it doesn’t ban it either. So there. Just deal with it until we re-tool the plastic-speck-making machine. We’re planning on replacing the plastic with a suitable alternative, that’s what we’ve told you, but it’s on our own timetable. Bottom line, you can push and push, but there is NO WAY IN THE DEPTHS OF HELL THAT WE WILL BE REMOVING ANY TOOTHPASTE FROM RETAIL SHELVES.

Now back the F*#% off. You have no idea who you are dealing with.

Sincerely,
Dr. Smiley McHappypants, DDS

In reality, Procter and Gamble has not yet released an official statement about the plastic, but they have been quietly assuaging fears on an individual basis and have informed Crest representatives to state that their products are safe. As for me? I still can’t find a compelling reason to ignore polyethylene when I am still finding it in patient’s gumlines, and have now seen reports from HUNDREDS of dental hygienists who are just now “connecting the dots.”

And sometimes, well sometimes you just have to connect all the dots by melting them down into masses of brown stuff that smell like scorched Wal-Mart bags:

beadventurous7
Poop, indeed.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: dental hygienists, Procter & Gamble, toothpaste advertisement, toothpastes that contain plastic

Crest toothpaste embeds plastic in our gums

March 4, 2014 By Trish Walraven 347 Comments

This is polyethylene:

bottlesandbags

Did you know that polyethylene is the most common plastic in the world? It is used primarily for containers and packaging, such as these bottles and plastic grocery bags, and has been a concern for the environment because polyethylene lasts practically forever and isn’t biodegradable. It only breaks down into smaller and smaller particles until you can’t see it anymore. That’s why a couple of states are trying to ban it in body scrubs and dental products.

This is also polyethylene:
PeasizedTPaste

Well, not all of it. Most of it is toothpaste. But do you see those blue specks? That’s plastic. This is the suggested pea-sized amount that you should use when you brush your teeth. Yes, there is plastic in this toothpaste.

Want to see how many pieces of plastic are in this exact sample?

PasteSmear

Not that I’m counting the bits but that seriously looks like A LOT of plastic… err…high density polyethylene. That’s what plastic trash cans are made from! If you throw away the box like most people do, the ingredients aren’t actually listed on the tube (sneaky, sneaky, Procter & Gamble!) However, I was able to track down the box here at this link. We’re not talking about polyethylene glycol, which is soluble in water. This stuff won’t dissolve in water, or even acetone or alcohol for that matter. How do I know it won’t dissolve? Because I put on my little scientist hat and tested it.

Like many of you, we often let our daughter pick out her own toothpaste at the store. She liked the tween vibe of this particular product so much that she chose it twice, but eventually the squeezed-out tubes ended up in the back of her toothpaste drawer.

Crestforme

When I first got wind that plastic was in some toothpastes, it was kind of exciting to realize that we had some on hand! And a bit concerning, because, after all, this is in my own home, used by my own child. Able to confirm that, sure enough, there was polyethylene in this toothpaste, I squirted out a pea-sized sample, mixed it up with some water, strained out the undissolved particles and let them dry on a paper towel. Oh, and I used a hair dryer to speed things up because I’m impatient. Then I shook approximately half of the sample into each of two pyrex bowls and added some household solvents:

acetonealcohol

They didn’t dissolve in the acetone, (nail polish remover) or in the alcohol either. I even left the samples in the solutions overnight, then re-hydrated them. No change in the particles.

specks1polyethylenefinger

So it has been established here that polyethylene will not dissolve in the mouth, or even in household products. It is an inert substance, which means that it doesn’t change at all. You know, that’s pretty good in some ways, because at least it’s probably not morphing into big blobs of plastic evil cancer bait.

Here’s where the story gets scary, though.

You see, I’m not just a concerned mom. I’m also a dental hygienist. And I’m seeing these same bits of blue plastic stuck in my patients’ mouths almost every day.

Around our teeth we have these little channels in our gums, sort of like the cuticles around our fingernails. The gum channel is called a sulcus, and it’s where diseases like gingivitis get their start. A healthy sulcus is no deeper than about 3 millimeters, so when you have hundreds of pieces of plastic being scrubbed into your gums each day that are even smaller than a millimeter, many of them are getting trapped:

plasticingums

The thing about a sulcus is that it’s vulnerable. Your dental hygienist spends most of their time cleaning every sulcus in your mouth, because if the band of tissue around your tooth isn’t healthy, then you’re not healthy. You can start to see why having bits of plastic in your sulcus may be a real problem, sort of like when popcorn hulls find their way into these same areas. Ouch, right?

Like I said, I’ve been seeing these blue particles flush out of patients’ gums for several months now. So has the co-hygienist in our office. So have many dental hygienists throughout the United States and Canada who have consulted with each other and realized that we have a major concern on our hands.

This is what an actual polyethylene speck looks like when it’s embedded within the sulcus, under the gumline:

gingival specks

I am not saying that polyethylene is causing gum problems. I’d be jumping too soon to that conclusion without scientific proof.  But what I am saying definitively is that plastic is in your toothpaste, and that some of it is left behind even after you’re finished brushing and rinsing with it.

Do you want plastic in your toothpaste? So far the only mention of polyethylene on the Official Crest website at this link is that it is added to your paste for color, not as an aid in helping to clean your teeth or to disperse important anti-plaque or anti-cavity ingredients. [Note: as of 9/3/14 Crest took down the link about polyethylene, but I saved a copy of it here in case this ever happened.]

In other words, according to Crest:

Polyethylene plastic is in your toothpaste for decorative purposes only.

This is unacceptable not only to me, but to many, many hygienists nationwide. We are informing our patients. We are doing research separately and comparing notes. And until Procter & Gamble gives us a better reason as to why there is plastic in your toothpaste, we would like you to consider discontinuing the use of these products.

Here are some of the brands (click each to see their ingredient list and labeling) that we currently are aware of which contain polyethylene:

• Crest 3D White Radiant Mint
• Crest Pro-Health For Me
• Crest 3D White Arctic Fresh
• Crest 3D White Enamel Renewal
• Crest 3D White Luxe Glamorous White
• Crest Sensitivity Treatment and Protection
• Crest Complete Multi-Benefit Whitening Plus Deep Clean
• Crest 3D White Luxe Lustrous Shine
• Crest Extra White Plus Scope Outlast
• Crest SensiRelief Maximum Strength Whitening Plus Scope
• Crest Pro-Health Sensitive + Enamel Shield
• Crest Pro-Health Clinical Gum Protection
• Crest Pro-Health For Life for ages 50+
• Crest Complete Multi-Benefit Extra White+ Crystal Clean Anti-Bac
• Crest Be Adventurous Mint Chocolate Trek
• Crest Be Dynamic Lime Spearmint Zest
• Crest Be Inspired Vanilla Mint Spark
• Crest Pro-Health Healthy Fresh
• Crest Pro-Health Smooth Mint

What you can do

At this point, it’s probably best if you leave your flaming torches back in the barn. We’re not going after witches or Frankenstein here; you’re using your power as a consumer to send a message that you do NOT want plastic in your toothpaste. Heck, you might even be worrying about what may happen if you or your children swallow some of it.

1. If you’ve already purchased one of these toothpastes you can take it back to the retailer where you bought it, make sure that the manufacturer knows why you’re returning it, and ask for a refund.

2. Lodge a Crest consumer complaint at (800) 959-6586 and report an adverse health effect, namely, that you’re concerned that plastic pieces may be getting trapped in your mouth.

3. Click here to send an email to Procter & Gamble, the makers of Crest.

4. Share this! Let your friends and family know that you are also concerned about the plastic in their toothpaste by clicking on your favorite social media link below and getting the word out.

Response to criticism

Procter & Gamble’s current party line? “We will discontinue our use of PE micro plastic beads in skin exfoliating personal care products and toothpastes as soon as alternatives are qualified.”

And your response then may be, “I will discontinue MY use of Crest toothpaste until there are no more decorative microplastics entering my mouth.”

Trish Walraven RDH, BS is a mom and practicing dental hygienist in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. She is also the co-creator of BlueNote Communicator, the top selling intra-office computer messaging system for dental and medical offices.

References and acknowledgements

Plastic Trades Industry: http://www.plasticsindustry.org/AboutPlastics
US National Library of Medicine: http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/crest
HygieneTown: http://www.hygienetown.com/blue-dots-in-patients-mouths

And a HUGE thank you goes out to my friend and colleague Erika B. Feltham, RDH for bringing this problem to our attention and for her extensive research. Erika is dedicated to providing the best possible care for her patients. She has been active in the dental profession for over 30 years, is a recipient of the 2008 American Dental Hygiene Association/Johnson and Johnson Hygiene Hero Award, the 2010 RDH Sunstar Americas (GUM Dental)Award of Distinction, lectures extensively about the harmful effects of sour candies, energy and sports drinks, and along with her San Diego component, she is responsible for presenting the resolution on sour candy labeling at the 2009 CDHA House of Delegates.

Update on 9/10/14:

As requested, here’s a quick video I made today that demonstrates polyethylene microbeads becoming embedded after brushing. This is for real; I didn’t poke the plastic in my gums (although I may have brushed a little more rough than normal!).

Update on 9/20/14:

This story got picked up nationally over the past week, with these notable entries:

The American Dental Association issued this press release regarding the safety of plastic in toothpaste and whether or not to remove the ADA Seal of Approval on Crest products.

FDA says that plastic is not approved as a food additive: NBC National News – Today Show

Interview in Phoenix, AZ  mentioning the influence of DentalBuzz on Procter & Gamble:

Trish’s interview on Good Morning America:

http://abcnews.go.com/video/embed?id=25560562

Brian Williams on NBC:

http://player.theplatform.com/p/2E2eJC/nbcNewsOffsite?guid=nn_09_bwi_toothpaste_140917

A concise writeup at the Washington Post

And a final word on why we shouldn’t even be so preoccupied with toothpaste in the first place:

https://www.dentalbuzz.com/2014/12/30/toothpaste-can-do-more-harm-than-good/

Filed Under: Dental Debates, Featured, News, Products Tagged With: Crest polyethylene, Crest toothpastes that contain plastic, plastic in toothpaste, Polyethylene in toothpaste

DIY dentistry kit for preppers

October 23, 2013 By Trish Walraven 11 Comments

dentidrillList

It’s getting closer to 2014 and you can pretty much guess what that means: the Obamacarepocalypse is almost upon us. Yee Haw. Preppers convinced that TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) is imminent will be pleased that they will no longer need to add a dentist to their list of People We Would Like To Have With Us when it all hits the fan.

What can you add to your hoard instead of another mouth to feed? A home dental kit, of course! The DentiDrill comes complete with a handpiece, a curing light, a wee bit of composite, a vial of topical lidocaine, a lithium-ion battery charger, 1 tungsten steel drill head,  a silicon polisher, a stainless steel dentist mirror, and the DVD tutorial.

dentadrillsmallYou’d better pre-order soon, though. As soon as the FDA and other authorities get wind of this there will be an immediate shutdown of all shipments. You know how good our government is at shutdowns. Product is supposed to begin its journey to the US tomorrow if it all goes as planned, however.

Currently the DentiDrill is being marketed to moms who feel that their options are otherwise limited when it comes to taking care of their children’s teeth. Does a mother have the legal right to practice dentistry on her kids without a license? After the apocalypse comes, who cares about licenses? See, the marketers have got it ALL WRONG! You’re not scaring people away from managed healthcare, you’re inviting chaos and STUPID FEAR! I say bring it, if that’s what you want. This is only clever and useful if you’re desperate, and in the United States, trust me, we are not. At least not yet.

Curious to learn more?  You’ll just have to see this video to believe it.

 

 

Still don’t believe it’s real? Just look! There’s More! DentiDrill has a Facebook page here that details design and production going back a year or so. It certainly doesn’t seem too fishy.

If you’re ready to drop $275 for one or are just trying to figure this thing out, visit DentiDrill.com and get one step closer to feeling like you’re doing the right thing for yourself and your family.

As far as me and how far I’ll go to prep for the end of civilization? I’ll probably just learn how to take out teeth. Much more practical skill, no batteries needed, just a strong stomach and hey, maybe a couple of swigs from that bottle that you were counting on your drinking buddy to bring.

 

 
Interesting Note: The DentiDrill website domain owner shares the same address as the Kentucky Dental Association. Thanks to Dr. Shad Lewis at DentalTown for this wonderful bit of sleuthing.The American Dental Association says that the KDA denies the address connection in this announcement published October 25.

THE FINAL WORD? (updated October 28, 2013) The DentiDrill isn’t real. It’s a hoax. The Dutch dental insurance company responsible for the publicity stunt probably didn’t realize that it would just make their business model seem like a joke as well.

You've been #hoaxed man RT @SubEWL: Ready to start saving on your healthcare? It's time to take control. #Dentidrill http://t.co/LzOq5hwGyH

— ixorg (@ixorg2) October 28, 2013

Filed Under: Marketing, News, Operative Dentistry, Products, Technology Tagged With: Apocalypse preppers, dental hoaxes, dental humor, dental parodies, DIY dentistry, viral marketing

Weight Watchers has spies in your mouth

July 27, 2013 By DentalBuzz Staff 1 Comment

Why are sensors being designed to detect if you’re smoking or overeating?

Instant gratification must so much of a problem that researchers are trying to solve it by gluing accelerometers to teeth. These devices have been calibrated to differentiate between chewing, smoking, speaking, and coughing with 94% accuracy. Read the rest of the story here at today’s Engadget post.

Filed Under: News, Research

Were these third molars aborted?

May 22, 2013 By Trish Walraven Leave a Comment

It looks like wisdom teeth can be preventable.

Now that you’ve found yourself a little incensed at the inflammatory title of this blog post (sometimes it takes alarm words to grab people’s eyeballs these days!) you’ll realize that the word ABORT actually does apply in this case.

Last month Tufts University School of Dental Medicine announced that there was a correlation between the injection of local anesthesia given to children between the ages of two and six and evidence of missing lower wisdom teeth. In other words, if a child had an IAN block at this age, they were over 4 times more likely to have missing third molar buds when radiographs were taken at least three years later.

At this young age, the cells that will become the third molar are not much larger than the anesthetic needle itself, and the developing tooth bud is quite vulnerable to injury. Dr. Anthony Silvestri, a clinical professor at Tufts University and an author of this study, has also published research to support the trauma theory of wisdom tooth prevention, showing that both diode lasers and electrosurgical energy can stop third molars from developing in rats.

Interestingly enough, I might have been affected by this phenomenon. As a kid I had my share of mandibular blocks as soon as my permanent molars started popping in with occlusal decay, and never developed my lower wisdom teeth. Thank you, Dr. Big-Scary-Hands-But-Really-Nice-Dentist Tom Watson DDS! Thank you for excusing my future visit to the oral surgeon.

You know, if the science behind this prophylactic de-nucleation of third molars gains any momentum, think about the consequences. In the next thirty years out-of-work oral surgeons will be lining up in protest of the loss of their bread and butter business. They’ll be picketing general dentists who perform these euphemisms and call them names like wizzie abortionists or bud killers.

Don’t take a side just yet. At this point the ethics of new research itself are even in question, but if there is a way to inoculate kids against the inconvenience of such minor diseases as chicken pox and shingles, why shouldn’t we at least explore the idea of making third molar extraction an option instead of an inevitability for most people?

And as a hygienist trying to hit production goals, I say, well, there goes my fourth qualifying tooth for quadrant scaling and root planing.

DBSmile1

 

 

Thanks to these articles for all their information:

TuftsNow: Dental Anesthesia May Interrupt Development of Wisdom Teeth in Children
Nerve Blocks in Children May Destroy Future Molars
Dimensions of Dental Hygiene: Local Anesthesia and Wisdom Teeth Development

Filed Under: News, Operative Dentistry Tagged With: bilateral aplasia, dental anesthesia, missing teeth, partial anodontia, school of dental medicine, third molars, Tufts University, wisdom teeth

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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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