When I was a teenager, I had no carious lesions or restorations (other than pit and fissure sealants) in any of my teeth. Typical kid of a dentist, right? Then I went to college and when I came back home after my first semester, I had nine carious lesions. What the heck happened?
Well, being away from home for the first time probably had a lot to do with it. Another factor was the increase in…shall we call them…fermentable carbohydrates. All of that impacted my oral health poorly. After the restorations were completed, I was prescribed a 5,000 ppm sodium fluoride dentifrice, and I’ve actually been using it twice a day ever since. In that time, I have had two carious lesions; one was recurrent.
From a prevention standpoint, these prescription dentifrices work. Like with my situation, we typically think of these products as being for high-caries-risk patients. With MI Paste One Perio by GC America, we have a remineralizing dentifrice that can also relieve sensitivity and prevent and treat gingivitis.
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MI Paste One Perio is the latest product in the MI Paste catalog. Like its siblings in this product line, it has casein milk protein and Recaldent for help with caries remineralization. The addition of stannous fluoride to MI Paste One Perio provides not only anticaries action, but also antigingivitis action.
With the first generation of MI Paste, patients were instructed to brush with their normal dentifrice and then apply the paste. Now, patients can simply brush with MI Paste One Perio and be done! This saves them time and an extra step, which will yield better compliance and results.
Another main feature of MI Paste One Perio is the release of bioavailable calcium, phosphate, and fluoride to help with remineralization. It produces a long-lasting antibiofilm effect that will help patients with gingivitis recover. A hugely important plus for MI Paste One Perio is the low relative dentin abrasivity (RDA), which comes in at 56. Many patients who are presenting to our practices with dental sensitivity and recession are using high-RDA dentifrices. By simply switching to one with lower abrasiveness, some sensitivity cessation can occur. Add the Recaldent, casein, and stannous fluoride to that and you will see a significant reduction in sensitivity.
Having products like MI Paste One Perio in your practice can help treat tangible problems for our patients in safe, conservative, and cost-effective ways. They can make our lives easier as clinicians and improve the quality of life for our patients. I have benefitted from both of those personally.
Editor's note: This article appeared in the June 2023 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.
