As part of the globally successful event series, the first North American GBT Summit took place in Calgary on April 25. The event was fully dedicated to state-of-the-art prophylaxis and oral prevention, covering topics such as the scientific background of GBT, successful implant maintenance, patient experience, and the profitability of prophylaxis. Renowned speakers shared their insights and experiences with the Guided Biofilm Therapy protocol, highlighting its impact on patients, clinicians, and dental practices.
Guided Biofilm Therapy shifts protocols, technologies, and produces outcomes to radically alter the prophylaxis experience. GBT places the focus on its strategic removal of biofilms first, while protecting vulnerable surfaces in the oral cavity. AIR-FLOWING® around implants and teeth with erythritol-based PLUS Powder is minimally invasive and gently removes adherent supra- and subgingival biofilms first in the appointment, thereby reducing mechanical instrumentation and eliminating abrasive polishing pastes. Studies consistently reveal patients prefer the gentle, efficient and thorough experience of Guided Biofilm Therapy compared to more traditional instrumentation methods1,2 which readily becomes a significant practice-builder.
The GBT Summit in Calgary started with long-time GBT user Karen Davis, RDH, highlighting the science supporting GBT. Lisa Yao, RDH, featured a patient video recounting his first GBT experience which transformed the long-standing fear he had of dental care. Periodontist, Steven Faigan, presented personal experiences related to implant debridement and featured GBT integration for periodontal maintenance. Dr. Grant Smith highlighted the value of the entire dental hygiene team incorporating GBT, from a general dentist’s perspective, with an emphasis on dental hygiene retention. Janelle Jones, RDH featured how GBT has been career-altering due to ergonomic benefits, and transformative for clinical outcomes through disclosing biofilms on all patients. Stacey Jackson, RDH, gave a hands-on demonstration featuring clinician tips to achieve optimal outcomes using the AIRFLOW® MAX, PERIOFLOW® with PLUS Powder, also known as AIR-FLOWING® and PIEZON® technologies. The Summit continued with Dr. Michael Levebvre who featured the history of change and presented compelling evidence of the direct and indirect return on investment for practices that provide GBT. Trent Wehrhahm ended the Summit with an exclamation mark featuring a myriad of marketing methods to position your practice as a premier provider of GBT.
All speakers underlined that GBT is a game-changer for oral prophylaxis, improving clinical outcomes and offering the best treatment experience to both patients and clinicians. If you got curious and want to live a full day GBT experience yourself, sign up for the GBT Summit Montréal (June 27th) or the GBT Summit New York (November 14th)
References
1Shrivastava D, Natoli V, Srivastava KC, Alzoubi IA, Nagy AI, Hamza MO, Al-Johani K, Alam MK, Khurshid Z. Novel Approach to Dental Biofilm Management through Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT): A Review. Microorganisms. 2021 Sep 16;9(9):1966. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8468826/
2ZMK Nov/Dec 2024. Winner in Prevention: The GBT Experience Nov/Dec 2024 Winner in prevention: The GBT Experience – Oral Health Group