Our New Patient Dental Amenity Kit

Our New Patient Dental Amenity Kit

All of our new patients get our New Patient Amenity kit when they finish their first comprehensive exam with us! Over the years, we have continued to refresh the items we include in this kit. See below for our latest kit!

We recognize that each dental visit can give patients a fresh perspective on their dental health, and we put together the amenity kit to promote a continued focus on their daily dental routine. If you need a Winter Park dentist and want your own amenity kit, schedule an appointment today or give us a call! 

What’s in the latest patient amenity kit?

Although our amenity kit does sometimes change based on product availability and even customization for Dr. Lina Yu's recommendations to a specific patient, our kit currently consists of the following:

• Our custom-made toothbrush with bamboo handle and soft nylon bristles (better for the environment)

• A full-sized tube of Colgate Optic White toothpaste, Hello “naturally whitening” toothpaste, or Sensodyne. We adjust this based on our hygieniest’s recommendation for you.

• Our custom-made organic lip balm (with extra Vitamin E)

• A full-sized roll of Glide floss (Dr. Yu’s personal favorite)

• A pack of Trident gum (ADA accepted)

Why do we provide a bamboo toothbrush?

Your favorite Winter Park dentist wants to avoid contributing to more plastics in our community. The toothbrush we provide has a handle made of bamboo, which is compostable and has antibacterial properties. Even if you aren’t able to compost the bamboo handle, it will naturally break down in a local landfill – providing a better environmental alternative than traditional plastic toothbrush handles. The bamboo handle won't last forever, typically only 2-3 months of regular use; however, this is also when you should be changing out your toothbrush because the bristle will have worn down from daily use. The bristles are made of recyclable nylon – which we've found is most easily recycled by pulling out the bristles with pliers and placing them inside a used recyclable water bottle.

 For patients who are correctly brushing with an electric toothbrush, we recommend sticking with that. Our bamboo toothbrush is a great companion for keeping at work, in your suitcase for travel or cleaning your retainers/nightguards.

If you currently use a regular manual toothbrush (there's nothing wrong with that, electric is not necessarily better), we think you'll like our toothbrush! The handle shape is designed with a specific curve to help reach the corners and top of your mouth, and the handle is finished for a smooth feel that won't feel rough compared to other bamboo toothbrushes. Finally, the bristle shape selected allows for gentle brushing on the surfaces of your teeth along your gum line and is also able to pinpoint tight spots. Dr. Lina Yu selected the bristles to be what she considers “soft” and the right amount of stiffness for most patients.

Ultimately, a bamboo toothbrush is a more sustainable replacement for a traditional plastic toothbrush, and the specific shape/bristle design is best for most patients. 

Why does your Winter Park dentist provide fluoride toothpaste? 

We believe in fluoride toothpaste as it's shown to help protect your teeth against decay and, when used properly, does not pose a health risk to the majority of patients. If you want extra protection, you could consider not rinsing after brushing or looking into the potential benefits of hydroxyapatite toothpaste.

Recently, we have found that most patients like a “whitening” toothpaste, and in particular we favor the Colgate Optic White products – they appear to have enough availability across multiple retailers and be safe for general use. Although an electric toothbrush is not required, most of our patients do use an electric toothbrush, and when paired with this toothpaste are able to effectively keep stains away in between dental cleanings.

For patients wanting something different, we specifically like the Hello brand of toothpaste because it is free of dyes, artificial sweeteners/flavors, parabens, triclosan, microbeads, and gluten. Additionally, it's made in the USA and is cruelty-free. While we recommend many kinds of toothpaste, we like to include Hello toothpaste because it introduces a unique option to our patients, which can get them thinking about the right toothpaste for them. It’s also widely available and affordable for patients who are looking to switch and want to purchase it themselves. Also, the general patient feedback is it leaves their mouth feeling fresh! 

Your Winter Park dentist is including Hello toothpaste in the amenity kit, but that doesn't mean we are explicitly recommending it. We do like it for most patients; however often substitute the Hello toothpaste with products that may be a better fit for the patient based on their dental appointment at Winter Park. For example, we may recommend or prescribe something different for patients with tooth sensitivity, periodontal disease, or those needing extra cavity protection. We also think there are more effective whitening toothpaste options as well. If you have questions about which toothpaste your favorite Winter Park dentist likes, come visit our office on Aloma Avenue!

What's in our organic lip balm, and what makes it so special?

Whether you want to stay moisturized or you’ve finished a long dental procedure – you might like the organic lip balm we provide to our patients. We’ve worked with a custom manufacturer to produce an Made in USA organic lip balm without any added flavors. It's an "unflavored" lip balm made with natural ingredients in a USDA organic-certified facility.

It's particularly popular with our teeth-whitening Winter Park patients who either have had their mouths open for a while with whitening gel or perhaps spilled a little bit of whitening gel onto their lips. If a little bit of whitening gel gets on your lips, the side of your mouth, or your gums, there can be some temporary and harmless discoloration. For this reason, our formulation has a bit of extra Vitamin E (which has been shown to return the natural color to any accidentally whitened spots on your lips/mouth faster).

Why is Glide the favorite floss of Dr. Lina Yu?

We include a full roll of Glide Floss in each amenity kit. This is NOT because Glide is necessarily the best floss for our patients. Our perspective is that for most patients, the “best floss” is the one they will actually use! This selection of Glide floss in the patient amenity kit encourages those who still need a good flossing routine to start one with the easiest floss to use. As the name suggests, "Glide" tends to glide between your teeth because it is thin and smooth. To effectively floss, it does require patients to spend a bit more time on their technique by making contact all around the tooth by lightly "wrapping" the floss as you move up and down.

We don't want perfection to be the enemy of the good. Therefore, we want to promote flossing in general. If you're an avid flosser, you may prefer thicker or waxed floss.

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