Greetings to my fellow dental professionals across Australia! As we continuously seek ways to enhance patient care and embrace innovative techniques, it's crucial to understand why air polishing, particularly with advancements like erythritol + CHX powder, is becoming the preferred choice over traditional dental cleaning methods.

Our goals as dental professionals in a active maintenance check up and clean appointment should be to 

1. Assess the patient’s oral hygiene and periodontal health

2. Educate and improve the patient’s oral hygiene 

3. Remove biofilm and calculus

4. Create an environment that is more conducive to health that the patient feels motivated and empowered to maintain

We all know mature biofilm is the trigger for periodontal disease as well as decay. And yet calculus still holds the limelight in traditional cleans. Air polishing assisted by disclosing agents puts biofilm as the focus of our appointment - not just its removal, but getting patients themselves to see and understand biofilm removal so they can improve their daily habits. Modern dentistry aims to shift away from the old fashioned, paternal “doctors prescribe treatment to patients” mentality, and instead move towards a “we are here to assist you in controlling your disease risk” mindset. 

We need to shift our focus to targeted cleaning rather than using ultrasonic scalers on every surface, which creates microroughness.

Benefits of Air Polishing

• Far more effective and efficient at removing stains and biofilm, especially in grooves, under bridges and around orthodontic brackets. 

• The most recommended way to clean implants as it does not roughen the implant surface

• The extremely small particle size gives it a very low abrasion level. It does not damage dentine - unlike ultrasonic tips and hand scalers. This powder dissolves in the stream of water before hitting the tooth, giving you efficient and effective biofilm and stain removal.

• Shorter Appointment Time

• By removing the soft deposits and stain first, you minimise the need for more aggressive techniques of ultrasonic scaling and hand scaling. The overall result is improved patient comfort and less iatrogenic damage to the tooth surface.

• Less operator fatigue - there is much less strain on the operator wrist  as there is no need to apply pressure on dozens of angled surfaces like there is with a rubber polishing cup.

Benefits of Erythritol Powder 

Erythritol + CHX powder is not only the least abrasive powder on the market at a particle size of only 14 microns, but it also has positive influence on the bacteria links to periodontal disease and decay.

Erythritol is a natural, non-caloric sweetener that is anticariogenic. Cariogenic bacteria such as Streptococcus mutans cannot metabolise erythrotol and do not survive well in its presence. The addition of 0.3% chlorhexidine furthers erythritol’s inhibitory effects on biofilm due to its anti-adherence and antimicrobial properties.

It dissolves completely in water so is safe for the environment and your pipes!