Cologne: Philips and EMS are entering a future-oriented partnership. The two companies will strategically combine their competencies and market positions – first in Germany, and later on a global scale.

More than 30 years ago, EMS developed the technologies of AIR-FLOW and PIEZON NO PAIN. These significantly simplified professional tooth cleaning. Today, almost every dental practice uses an EMS product. With its Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT), EMS in 2016 advanced dental prophylaxis and prevention to a new level with a cutting-edge concept.

Philips Sonicare has for 25 years stood for domestic plaque biofilm management at the highest scientific level. This was revolutionized with the help of sonic technology, and today Philips Sonicare is the most recommended sonic toothbrush brand in the world. With Airfloss, Philips also demonstrated its medical expertise in interdental spaces. In a much-acclaimed clinical study,1 virtually all subjects showed no signs of inflammation in interdental spaces after four weeks of daily AirFloss Ultra application.

“It was high time to link the two fields of professional dental cleaning and domestic dental care with leading product concepts. This also corresponds to the recommendations of the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP), which state that domestic dental care and professional mechanical plaque control together are a prerequisite for the preservation of natural teeth. With EMS and Philips, two dedicated companies are now proving that this fundamentally improves dental health – and the concept of GBT forms the respective link”, explains Bernd Bühner, Chairman of EMS Electro Medical Systems S.A.

Step-by-step collaboration

The cooperation will begin in Germany. In addition to purely communicative elements and the reciprocal recommendation, GBT is rounded off by evidence-based measures regarding domestic care of teeth and gums. The core of this extraordinary cooperation is to combine professional tooth cleaning and home care, based on the latest studies and superior product concepts. The plaque biofilm is first removed gently in the dental office with the EMS products AIR-FLOW and PIEZON NO PAIN – and the Sonicare products, including sonic toothbrush, AirFloss, tongue cleaning, and mouthwash, then make sure it stays that way at home. “I often asked myself in the past why companies that have office and home-care know-how don’t work together, as that would make good sense for the market for various reasons,” says professor Michael Noack, Director of the Polyclinic for Tooth Preservation and Periodontology at Cologne University.

Philips and EMS will present a protocol that provides clear procedures for Pro Care, i.e. treatment in the dental office, and Home Care, which takes place at home. With the aim of enabling patients and dental offices to benefit even more from professional tooth cleaning through this standardization. Similar to a horizontal eight, patients begin their dental care journey with Pro Care in the dental office. Then, after treatment and with the appropriate motivation, their path leads them to Home Care. That is where they are then able to achieve plaque biofilm management through consistent application of superior oral hygiene means, which leads to caries-free teeth and periodontal health. Depending on the individual initial situation, these Home Care phases are supported by Pro Care phases.

“We will combine professional tooth cleaning and domestic dental care – to the benefit of dental offices and dental health around the world. The initial step will of course be to inform dental offices about the structure and the concept. We will first comprehensively train our dental partner offices – and thus establish the protocol in the offices. This is a quality and confidence-building measure. The dental offices will then talk to their patients and convince them of the new processes and ultimately ensure that patients have professional tooth cleaning carried out more often and with a better feeling,” explains André Mügge, Marketing Director for Health & Wellness at Philips. “But all prophylaxis-oriented dental offices are invited to request further information. Campaigns, campaign websites as well as dental office finders are used as marketing means.”

Sources
1 Study: "Klinische Wirksamkeit und Akzeptanz des Philips Sonicare AirFloss Ultra auf die approximale Gesundheit bei Erwachsenen," Center for Dental and Oral Medicine at the Polyclinic for Tooth Preservation and Periodontology at the University Clinic Cologne, 2015