It is time for my second review. This time it is the GC Tooth Mousse. I have been using this product on my patients and myself for several years and I am going to tell you how I choose the patients whose teeth will get application of Tooth Mousse and why many patients also get advice to use Tooth Mousse at home.
There will be instructions on how to use the Tooth Mousse at home and in surgery.
What Is Tooth Mousse?
Mousse? Not really. The name is slightly misleading as it is more like a gel. But I guess strawberry flavoured mousse brings positive associations in people’s minds. Almost like a delicious dessert. It does taste pleasant though. There are 5 different flavours: the featured strawberry, vanilla, melon, mint and tutti-frutti.
Let’s see first what the manufacturer’s selling speech is:
When Tooth Mousse is applied to tooth surfaces, the CPP-ACP molecule binds to biofilm, plaque, bacteria, hydroxyapatite and surrounding soft tissue.
-Delivers Recaldent™ Casein Phosphopeptide – Amorphous Calcium Phosphate
-Inhibits enamel demineralisation and induces remineralisation
-Reduces hypersensitivity by obturating open dentinal tubules
-Prevents initial caries forming thanks to the anti-cariogenic properties
-Reverses white spot lesions
-The delicious flavours stimulate saliva flow for an enhanced effectiveness of CPP-ACP
Many difficult to understand words I think. And this letter combination CPP-ACP, what the heck is that? If you are a common consumer, you probably are not 100% sure what you just read. I will try to tell the same in more simplified way.
What Is the Secret in Tooth Mousse?
It is the milk. Well part of it.
It is known that milk is beneficial to dental health due to its calcium and other derivatives. Tooth Mousse contains plenty of calcium complex of CPP-ACP (see below where this abbreviation comes from), commercially named as Recaldent, which is the ideal delivery system for calcium and phosphate ions that are naturally available in milk.
Recaldent is derived from the milk protein, casein hence the protective effect to the teeth.
Research has shown that this activity is due to a part of the casein protein called Casein Phosphopeptide (or CPP), which carries calcium and phosphate ions in the form of Amorphous Calcium Phosphate (or ACP).
GC Tooth Mousse does not contain fluoride but there is a product called GC Tooth Mousse Plus that contains fluoride (900ppm).
Who Benefits of Using Tooth Mousse?
On top of my list are definitely the patients with signs of dental erosion. But these people fall into two different categories – to the ones whose dental erosion is active and progressing and to the ones whose dental erosion has stopped progressing and no reason from diet or health, that would cause erosion, can be found.
The former group will always (with three exception, will tell you about it later) get an application of Tooth Mousse in my surgery. People who belong to this group are often vegetarians, vegans and people suffering from gastric reflux – they are the ones who suffer from the dental erosion the most. And especially people who have gastric reflux and grind/clench their teeth at night – if they use night guard, then even more so as the saliva that protects the teeth is present in very small amounts in mouth at night and this small amount of saliva is not able to reach the top teeth that are covered by the night guard.
The problem is that even though the saliva is not able to reach the top teeth, the stomach acid is because it travels on the surface of the tongue. The tongue rests often against the roof of the mouth and the stomach acid has access under the night guard. And stomach acid is very acidic – its pH is between 1,5-3,5.
To these patients I also advise to buy Tooth Mousse to be used at home. And once they have used it regularly I often see that the enamel has restored its shine again. Of course you cannot grow the lost enamel back by using this product but Tooth Mousse will make the remaining enamel stronger to the effects of acids.
The dental erosion is not the only reason for the application of the Tooth Mousse. I will apply Tooth Mousse to the patients
- that suffer from dry mouth (xerostomia)
- who have high risk of caries
- who have hypersensitivity
Also I apply Tooth Mousse after scaling and root planing, after bleaching and after removal of orthodontic brackets to prevent sensitivity after treatment.
The Exceptions?
I do not apply the Tooth Mousse to people
- who are allergic to milk protein as the Recaldent is derived from the milk protein, casein.
- who are allergic to hydroxybenzoates.
- who are strict vegans as everything entering the mouth should be plant-based.
How to Apply Tooth Mousse at Home?
It is very easy to apply Tooth Mousse at home. If you are a night guard user, continue reading further to find out how to use it with night guard at night.
Follow these simple steps:
- Brush your teeth and clean in between the teeth thoroughly.
- Wash your hands and apply pea size amount to the back of your hand. Then apply another same sized amount next to the first one (see photo). Now you have one dosage for your upper teeth and one for your lower teeth. This is the minimum dosage.
- Use a clean finger or a cotton swab/bud (see the photo) so spread Tooth Mousse all over you teeth (see photo).
- Leave the Tooth Mousse undisturbed for at least 3 minutes (go and watch the telly to make the time pass quicker – it doesn’t matter if the Tooth Mousse stays undisturbed in your mouth for longer. The longer it stays, the better).
- Once 3 minutes has passed, move your tongue over your teeth to spread the mousse everywhere in your mouth, including the soft tissues. You can swish the mixture of saliva and Tooth Mousse around your mouth. Try to keep the liquid in your mouth for 2 minutes and then spit out the liquid. There is also an option not to spit out – just spread the mousse with your tongue all over you mouth and that’s it. Leave it there. If doubting – jump to
Is It Necessary to Spit It Out? - Do not eat, drink or rinse for 30 minutes.
Tooth Mousse with night guard (especially if you suffer from gastric reflux):
- Brush your teeth and clean between the teeth (or vise versa, it doesn’t make much difference which way around you do it).
- Clean the night guard by using manual toothbrush for it. Do not use toothpaste for the night guard.
- Apply small amounts of Tooth Mousse inside the night guard (see photo) and place it in your mouth.
- Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.
- In the morning, brush the night guard with manual toothbrush and rinse with water. Brush your teeth as well.
How to Apply Tooth Mousse in the Surgery?
If there is lots of saliva in the surfaces of the teeth I dry the surfaces with a cotton roll. The enamel does not need to be absolutely dry so do not use pressurised air.
For the application I often use Monject syringe with a black dispensing tip (19 gauge) but it can be applied also with a cotton roll – just remember the aseptic technique. Pea size amount per arch is the minimum amount for the application.
Now after the applications there are two ways to do proceed. I pretty much always ask the patients to ignore the Tooth Mousse for couple of minutes and then to move the tongue over the teeth to spread the gel also to the soft tissues. And that’s all. Very simple to apply. But always remember to instruct the patient not to drink, eat or rinse for half an hour after the application.
Another option is to repeat the above but after the patient has spread the gel around the mouth you can advice her to wait for couple of minutes before spitting out all the extra saliva and Tooth Mousse. Advise patient not to eat, drink or rinse the mouth for half an hour.
Personally I stick to not spitting out.
Is It Necessary to Spit It Out? Oh, the Confusion!
Now personally I find it confusing that two different ways to do it is advised by the manufacturer. Why not stick to advising to leave the Tooth Mousse in mouth if there is no reason to spit it out?
In their leaflet where Tooth Mousse is introduced, they advice to leave the Tooth Mousse in mouth without spitting:
For at-home use: when your patients apply Tooth Mousse and MI Paste Plus immediately before going to bed, they should leave it on their teeth to slowly dissolve overnight.
But in their instructions for use (IFU) that is found inside the package the advise given is the opposite:
4. Expectorate thoroughly and if possible avoid rinsing. Any GC Tooth Mousse remaining on the surface can be left to gradually dissipate overnight. Do not eat or drink for 30 minutes following application.
To make it even more confusing, on their FAQs leaflet they leave it up to the consumer whether to spit out or not. This what the manufacturer answers to the customer’s question Do I need to wash it off?
This is a matter of preference. For the maximum benefit, leave it on the teeth as long as possible. The minimum recommended application time is three minutes. You can then rinse the mouth or simply wipe any remaining crème from the teeth.
And to the question Is it safe to swallow?
Yes. The main ingredient of GC Tooth Mousse® is derived from milk casein and, like milk and cheese, is edible. GC Tooth Mousse® should not be used by people with milk protein allergies or sensitivity to benzoate preservatives.
If it does not really matter whether to rinse or not to rinse but it would be beneficial to leave the Tooth Mousse in mouth as long as possible, I repeat – why not stick to advising Do not spit?
Would I Recommend This Product?
Hell, yeah.
I have noticed numerous times that sensitivity after scaling and root planing is almost non-existent every time I have applied Tooth Mousse after treatment.
Also the enamel restores its shine after patient suffering from dental erosion has used Tooth Mousse regularly. Of course I must say that one part of this process is the fact that many people change their lifestyle habits once they understand that the enamel does not grow back once it’s gone. There is natural defence in everyone’s mouth and that is saliva. As long as there is not too much for the saliva to handle in daily basis (e.g. sour drinks, snacking), it can keep the enamel healthy.
It is comforting to know that there is something that the patients suffering from the gastric reflux can use at night to protect their teeth from the stomach acid. Gastric reflux is a nasty thing to have and very often patients do not even know they are suffering from it but that is completely another story. I might write a short post about it soon.
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