TePe Blog Posts – TePe USA

Patient-Centered Care

I had a recent discussion with a dentist about building trusting relationships in your practice by ensuring we’re recommending the best for our patients. This means offering the best care, using the best materials, and recommending the best products that are tailored to treat a patient’s unique needs. I then happened to read an article referring to this same concept. Both my discussion and the article similarly concluded that individualized care elevates a patient’s...

August 11, 2016 0 comments

British Society of Periodontology Statement on Flossing

August, 2016: PRESS RELEASE: “Daily cleaning between your teeth using special interdental brushes is essential for treating and preventing gum disease."

PRESS RELEASE 2 August 2016 Following articles published today in various national newspapers, the British Society of Periodontology would like to make the following statement with regard to comments made by the Associated Press in the United States about the ineffectiveness of flossing. Evidence supports the use of small interdental brushes for cleaning between the teeth, where there is space to do so, in preference to flossing. The recommendation from the 11th European Workshop on the prevention of gum diseases (2015) to patients is...

August 04, 2016 0 comments

Success or Survival?

Dental implants have become a part of everyday dentistry within the U.S. placing upwards of 1 million implants a year. The ability to give patients a viable option for missing teeth is incredible. However, we as clinicians need to make sure that the procedure is going to yield a positive outcome with long-term success. Unfortunately, many dental implants are merely surviving and not considered fully successful. Oftentimes we read studies that will say something like, “these implants have a survival...

July 27, 2016 0 comments

Do we Know Why Patients Don’t Comply?

I was just reading an interesting article about compliance. Lack of compliance is one of the biggest enemies we fight in our profession. How do we get our patients to actually perform our recommendations? First, we need to understand why they don’t always comply. The study outlined in the article, found that half of all patients fail to follow a clinician’s instructions. This is mainly due to one or a combination of the following reasons: Fear—Not...

June 21, 2016 0 comments

But I'm Too Tired to Clean my Teeth at Night!

As a dental hygienist, I hear this a lot. Brushing before bedtime is crucial because an accumulation of disease causing bacteria won’t be sitting on your teeth all night.

As a dental hygienist, I hear this a lot. Disturbing the bacteria that has accumulated throughout the day that is sitting along the gum line and between your teeth is very important. Brushing before bedtime is crucial because that accumulation of aggressive, disease causing bacteria won’t sit on your teeth and around your gums all night. When we sleep, it is the perfect time for the bacteria to assault our teeth and gums. We are not salivating as much and...

April 28, 2016 0 comments

Access Health: Our Teeth and Bones

Being a dental hygienist doesn’t typically get you a behind the scenes look at the world of television. Yet, I was lucky enough to get invited to Access Health as a dental correspondent. This show airs on the Lifetime Network and explores cutting-edge developments and innovations in medicine, nutrition, and fitness. During my segment with Access Health, I was honored to interview Dr. Jeb Jacobson from Renaissance Dental and the “grannies” who created Ice Chips Candy. These two interviews provided a...

March 16, 2016 0 comments

The Tongue Test

The tongue may be difficult to work around for a hygienist, but it can be a great asset to help patients improve their brushing skills.

Oh the tongue! The nemesis to all dental hygienists. I have spent most of my clinical career battling the most curious, and in my opinion, strongest muscle in the body. Patients are not even aware that their tongue is trying to push me away or trying to feel where my instrument is. The tongue may be difficult to work around but it can be a great asset to help patients improve their brushing skills. I know that I am a...

February 29, 2016 1 comments

National Children’s Dental Health Month: Waging the ...

Kids love sugar and sugar is found in almost everything we consume. Help wage the war on sugar this National Children's Dental Health Month!

Kids love sweets, there is no doubt about that. Unfortunately, they're full of sugar which - in high quantities - can significantly alter a child's physical and emotional wellbeing. Sugar is found in almost everything we consume, from the obvious sweet foods like chocolate and cakes to processed foods and microwaveable dinners. February is National Children’s Dental Health Month and this year the dental community is waging its war on sugar. We are learning more and more about the harmful...

February 04, 2016 0 comments

Could your Hygienist Save you Money?

Dental visits can go many different ways. If you have history with and enjoy your hygienist, you will probably chat and catch up on life. If they are new to you, you may critique him or her, comparing them to the last dental hygienist. However, if you are lucky, at some point they may give you some great advice, introduce you to new products (especially ones that are inexpensive and easy to use) and even encourage you to improve the...

January 05, 2016 0 comments

Dental Professionals: How to Properly Size TePe Inte...

A helpful explanation on how to size your TePe interdental brushes for your patients based on their embrasure spaces.

The great thing about the TePe interdental line is how extensive it is. You really can tailor patient education for cleaning interdental spaces to exactly what the patient needs. However, getting started with the TePe line can be overwhelming. Especially, if you have been using only 1, 2 or 3 sizes for interdental cleaners. We hate wasting product as we try to size our patients, so here is a helpful tip for sizing TePe's interdental brushes. I take my probe, the...

December 14, 2015 3 comments

What's the Deal with Xerostomia?

Dry mouth, or xerostomia, affects many people for many reasons. Once you understand the reason for your dry mouth, there are several ways to tackle the problem.

What is dry mouth? Dry mouth, or xerostomia, affects many people for many reasons. Saliva is important because it helps us chew, speak, and swallow. It also helps to flush bacteria away from the teeth and without an adequate amount of saliva the risk for dental decay increases. There are many reasons a person can have dry mouth. Certain medications, how you breathe at night, systemic diseases (such as diabetes), cancer treatments, salivary tumors, or salivary stones can...

November 11, 2015 0 comments

Meet Michelle, your TePe Educator

Hi, my name is Michelle Strange, and I’ll be your guide on all things TePe. I’m here to be a...

Hi, my name is Michelle Strange, and I’ll be your guide on all things TePe. I’m here to be a resource for hygienists and dentists and to support patients in taking the best care of their teeth they can. But first, a little background on my history with TePe and how I became so incredibly passionate about these products. I am a born and raised southern girl from Charleston, SC. I have a love for dentistry and my dental hygiene...

May 06, 2015 2 comments