Guided Biofilm Therapy with the Airflow Prophylaxis Master
EMS introduces the Airflow Prophylaxis Master device and a smarter approach to caries, nonsurgical periodontal treatments, and maintenance
Traditional hygiene scaling using both hand and ultrasonic scalers has been the standard of care. However, sometimes, the old ways are not necessarily the best ways—especially when science proves that there is a better and smarter way to treat periodontal disease and maintain patients’ oral health. EMS recently introduced the Airflow Prophylaxis Master (AFPM) device and Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT), which enable an individualized and less invasive approach to prophylaxis.
Through 3 unique handpieces—AIRFLOW, PERIOFLOW, and PIEZON—the AFPM carries out GBT, a unique, step-by-step approach to caries, nonsurgical perio treatments, and maintenance. Hygienist and speaker Melissa Obrotka’s journey with GBT began 3 years ago, after she found herself struggling with instrumentation when treating advanced implant patients. After discovering the AFPM at a dental convention and receiving a demo of the product in her office, she realized her struggles were behind her.
“I found out pretty quickly that Guided Biofilm Therapy really flips on your head how you’ve been taught to do hygiene," Obrotka said. "It’s a totally different approach, but it’s a smarter approach, and provides a way to be much more thorough for your patients with a technique that’s less labor intensive on their bodies than traditional approaches to doing debridements."
The AFPM also provides superior ergonomics for users, including a wireless foot pedal with 360º power activation access and decreased need for fatigue-causing hand instrumentation.
How It Works
After assessing patients’ hard and soft tissue and perio charting, GBT calls for disclosing the patient’s entire mouth so both clinician and patient can visualize the biofilm. “The great part of this step is that now I have a GPS to see exactly where I need to go to eliminate biofilm,” said Obrotka. “And the even better part is when I sit the patient up with a mirror and a brush, and we go over all the areas they’ve missed.”
After the patient is motivated about treatment, the AIRFLOW handpiece is used with the erythritol-based PLUS powder to remove biofilm, stains, and young calculus on the patient's teeth and restorations. If needed, the PERIOFLOW handpiece is used to remove subgingival biofilm in periodontal pockets. The PERIOFLOW handpiece and the PLUS powder also are ideal for treating peri-implant pockets or mucositis. Then, the PIEZON handpiece and Perio Slim (PS) piezo-ceramic instrument are used to remove remaining supra- and subgingival calculus without pain.
“The nice thing is that, if a patient doesn't have a lot of hard deposits, you don't need to pick up your power scaler and go around their whole mouth. You can really visualize where the calculus is after using the AIRFLOW. So, now you can limit your instrumentation and you can just go to the areas where you can visualize the calculus and you know that there's still hard deposits. So, you would only piezo those areas to remove the calcified deposits. This means we're also not over-instrumenting our patients anymore, which is a lovely thing—not only for us ergonomically, but our patients love that, too,” shared Obrotka.
"Guided Biofilm Therapy really flips on your head how you've been taught to do hygiene. It's a totally different approach, but it's a smarter approach."
-Melissa Obrotka, RDH BBA, ICP
A Profitable Process
Following the steps of GBT can save hygienists between 5 to 10 minutes per patient, which adds up to more than an hour and a half every day. This frees up more time to educate patients about their oral health or introduce adjunctive therapies that serve as practice builders. "Screening for oral cancer is one of the most important things hygienists can do," said Obrotka. "Having technology like this and using the GBT process will give you the time to be able to do that and more."
There's also no need to stock rubber cups and prophy paste, or to spend excess time sharpening and reprocessing instruments. And while disclosing may seem like a step that's easy to skip, it’s an important part of what makes GBT so profitable, because it helps patients understand and accept treatment. “It really takes maybe 30 or 45 seconds to disclose a patient’s mouth, but there’s no price tag you can put on the education that comes after that. You can tell them to brush and floss, but when you visually show them where they’re missing and what’s going on in their mouths, they become a part of treatment and can better understand the oral systemic link. For example, how bacteria in their mouths is potentially pathogenic and can lead to chronic inflammation that increases their cancer risk and makes them susceptible to many systemic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes," said Obrotka.
Patient response to GBT and having their teeth debrided with the Airflow Prophylaxis Master device has been positive. “All my patients have such a great response to Guided Biofilm Therapy," said Obrotka. "They love it and tell me it feels so good." Now, as patients come back for their recalls, the hygienist sees a big improvement in the health of their tissue.
Boosting the patient experience through GBT can have a tremendous impact on the practice by increasing patient loyalty and referrals. Patients leave the chair feeling well taken care of and ready to share their positive experience with family and friends.
“When science shows us a better way to do something, I think we're obligated to listen,” Obrotka concluded.
AIRFLOW® Handpiece with PLUS Powder
Removes biofilm, stains, and young calculus supra-
and subgingivally on natural teeth, restorations, and implants.
PERIOFLOW® Hanpiece with PLUS Powder
Removes biofilm in periodontal and peri-
implant pockets. Ideal for treating mucositis and
preventing peri-implantitis.
PIEZON® Hanpiece with PS Instrument
After using AIRFLOW, removes remaining supra-
and subgingival calculus comfortably.
