A Simple Solution for At-Home Implant Hygiene Maintenance

Zest Dental Solutions’ innovative Regal GO™ brushes

Insights from Gordon J. Christensen, DDS, MSD, PhD, often leave a lasting impression on people, and Zest Dental Solutions' global product manager, Zachary Burkett, is no exception. Burkett was struck by a comment that Christensen made to him about how cases can be handled perfectly by dentists but still ruined by poor oral hygiene. Although water flossers are the most common tool used by patients for the at-home maintenance of implant-supported prostheses, could there be something better?

Burkett brainstormed with Zest Dental Solutions' CCO, Michael Scherer, DMD, MS, about potentially putting a cleaning solution inside the handle of an interproximal brush, but that would have been highly challenging to manufacture. Then Burkett had an epiphany—they already had the parts and pieces from other products that, if repurposed, could deliver the same complete and effective solution for patients. And from there, the REGAL GO^™ All-In-One Oral Care Brush was born. "That was it," Burkett says. "Once we figured out that we already had what we needed to make it and started testing it, we discovered that it was extremely effective."

REGAL GO is a fine bristle brush pen that can be used to access and clean the areas underneath an implant overdenture, all-on-X prosthesis, or LOCATOR FIXED^® prosthesis. It can also be used to effectively clean underneath orthodontic brackets and wires and even underneath individual implant-supported crowns. With a slight twist of the base, the brush extrudes a dose of pleasant tasting cleaning gel. The gel is non-abrasive and helps break up food debris and limit the buildup of biofilm and bacteria. Each disposable unit of REGAL GO includes eight doses, so a four-pack provides a 1-month supply. "It is even more portable and easy to use than a water flosser, and it provides a level of physical agitation that a water flosser does not," Burkett says.

The initial feedback has been extremely positive. "I have given it to approximately 15 patients, and virtually every one of them has said that it is incredible," says Zest Dental Solutions' chief clinical officer, Michael Scherer, DMD, MS. "One patient with a LOCATOR FIXED prosthesis was concerned about some redness around one of her implants, and after 1 month of using REGAL GO, it was gone. She was thrilled."

Scherer notes that the development of REGAL GO is an example of how Zest Dental Solutions listens to dentists. "Dentists needed help because, unfortunately, patients often fall back into the same rhythm that led them to lose their teeth in the first place," he says. "Water flossers are bulky and difficult to travel with. If we could provide something that patients could more easily use on a daily basis, we knew it would be impactful. When Burkett told me about this idea, as a clinician, I immediately wanted it. REGAL GO is a big step toward furthering at-home care options to improve oral health outcomes. Dentistry has been begging for something like this."

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Zest Dental Solutions • zestdent.com • 800-262-2310