Could visualisation be the key to better oral health?
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 20th June 2020
Products that identify plaque in the mouth are nothing new. Disclosing solution/tablets are a mainstay in practices when you want to show patients what’s going on in their mouths, and there have been a number of technologies introduced in recent years that have helped patients to visualise their oral health more clearly.
Indeed, these types of products also exist for home use and it wasn’t too long ago that there was a fad for mouthwashes that revealed plaque. There is also now a toothpaste available that highlights plaque after brushing when used, designed to make effective removal easier.
But does visibility actually make a difference when it comes to patient habits and a reduction in risk?
Plaque, inflammation, and problems
Obviously, we know that plaque is bad news for dental health. Decay, gum disease – the effects of plaque build-up are evident. But what about the further effects on systemic health?
It’s becoming more and more clear that plaque bacteria have a huge impact on general health too. For example, you’ll likely have heard that elevated levels of plaque bacteria have been connected to higher risks of heart disease and stroke.[i] Other research has suggested a correlation between gum disease and Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.[ii]
The culprit behind these links is c-reactive proteins (CRPs). These proteins are already in our bloodstreams, but react when our bodies experience an inflammatory response. Usually, this isn’t a problem as inflammation is resolved during the natural healing process in normal injuries such as cuts. However, with conditions such as gum disease where plaque acid is constantly causing an inflammatory response, these CRPs can quickly cause issues, building up in the bloodstream and heightening the risks of the previously mentioned conditions by blocking arteries or gathering in the brain.
So, with gum disease being such a risk factor, could making plaque visible really make a difference? As I was browsing through the news recently, I stumbled across a piece that described some research undertaken by individuals at Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. This randomised trial set out to discover once and for all whether using a plaque-revealing toothpaste could help reduce the number of CRPs in a person’s system.
The results of the trial suggested that there was indeed a good case for plaque-identifying toothpaste, and that the use of it significantly lowered levels of CRPs in participants. However, like many of these studies, it will require a much larger trial in the future to ensure that this evidence is conclusive.[iii]
Why visualisation could make all the difference
So, if the results of this study are true and visualisation does help, why is this the case? Perhaps the most compelling argument is rather simple – if people can see a problem, they want to solve it. Plaque bacteria is easy to ignore in regular life because you can’t really see it clearly, unless there is a huge build up. If remaining plaque is clearly highlighted after brushing, this acts as a visual reminder that there is still work to be done, encouraging patients to clean their teeth with more care.
Indeed, we also need to consider what visualisation achieves in terms of highlighting threats to health. It’s unlikely that someone would ignore a strange rash or a tumour developing, and making plaque visible works in much the same way. If you can see something is not right, you want to find out more about it, and correct it if possible.
Another idea that supports this approach is that humans, as a species, are visual problem solvers.[iv] How often have you been faced with a conundrum and instantly reached for a pen and paper in order to jot down notes, brainstorm or write down key points in the quest to find a solution? Information is easier for us to process on a visual level, and while something like plaque on teeth being easily seen is a rather straight-forward example of this, it still shows how this sort of approach could appeal more to our natural problem-solving methods, and therefore be more effective.
The future of home dental products?
Of course, as the results of the study are not set in stone, we cannot assume that being able to see plaque would inspire the same level of good oral hygiene habits among everybody that were seen by those tested in the study. For some people visualisation isn’t enough – think of how many cases present with clearly decayed teeth or with other highly visual problems which they have been wilfully ignoring until pain set in.
However, if it does even encourage a small amount of people to pay better attention to their oral health and remove plaque more effectively, these products have got to be a good idea. This way, we can not only hopefully improve the nation’s oral health, but also their general health by helping to lessen the chances of strokes, heart diseases and other inflammatory-based conditions.
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[i] Harvard Health Publishing. Heart Disease and Oral Health: Role of Oral Bacteria in Heart Plaque. Link: https://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/heart-disease-oral-health [Last accessed March 2020].
[ii] NHS. Gum Disease Linked To Increased Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. Link: https://www.nhs.uk/news/neurology/gum-disease-linked-increased-risk-alzheimers-disease/ [Last accessed March 2020].
[iii] Science Daily. Could This Plaque Identifying Toothpaste Prevent a Heart Attack or Stroke? Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200224100554.htm [Last accessed March 20202].
[iv] NRICH. Thinking Through, And By, Visualising. Link: https://nrich.maths.org/6447 [Last accessed March 2020].
