GSK launches campaign to fight sensitive teeth

MANILA, Philippines - Tooth sensitivity is a common dental problem that many people experience, with nine out of 10 Filipinos suffering from sensitive teeth, most of them not realizing that there is a solution to this.

Almost everyone is familiar with that feeling of sharp and sudden pain shooting deep into the nerve endings of the tooth when eating hot or cold, or sweet or sour food. While some people endure and settle with the pain, some just choose to give up eating their favorite food to avoid the pain.

Dentine hypersensitivity or sensitive teeth is a discomfort in the tooth that happens when the hard outer enamel layer on teeth and the softer underlying dentine decay stimulate the nerves inside. It’s not a disease, but rather a condition that develops over time due to common factors such as receding gums, over-vigorous tooth brushing, and teeth grinding.

“Nine out of 10 Filipinos suffer from sensitive teeth or pangingilo. Madalas, tinitiis na lang nila ang sakit na dulot ng pangingilo (Often, they just endure the pain caused by sensitive teeth). They do not get to enjoy their favorite food and drinks and fully enjoy the eating moments with their family and friends. As a dentist, I’m concerned about how pangingilo affects my patients’ lives,” said Dr. Fernando Fernandez, DMD, FPCOMS, president of the Philippine Dental Association.

Enduring the pain or avoiding one’s favorite food does not have to be the solution to be free from that sharp sudden pain in the teeth. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recently launched its “Say No to Ngilo” advocacy campaign where it has come together with dentists and consumers to fight the pain of sensitive teeth. With this, it has just introduced its Sensodyne sachets for only P10 to drive accessibility and affordability for the solution to tooth sensitivity.

“The Philippines is the first country in the world where Sensodyne is introducing the sachet format. This development is also significant because GSK is confident of the Philippines as an important emerging market, and this will definitely encourage more Filipinos to proactively manage their sensitive teeth and say no to ngilo,” said Jeoffrey Yulo, consumer healthcare general manager of GSK Philippines.

GSK is also committed to promote proactive efforts to improve oral healthcare in the country, including helping 2,000 dentists who themselves have committed to fight dentine hypersensitivity by educating their patients on proper oral hygiene and using effective tools to combat pangingilo.

Sensodyne contains potassium ion that depolarizes the nerve and protects it from firing. Nerve impulses to the brain are prevented and the resulting pain is stopped.

Clinical studies show that potassium nitrate progressively reduces the pain of sensitivity over a period of weeks. So, as long as Sensodyne is used twice daily in brushing, the nerve response will gradually be blocked and pain is relieved.

It also has strontium acetate — an element similar to calcium. The strontium in Sensodyne Rapid Relief replaces some of the calcium lost from dentine and blocks the exposed tubules within the dentinal tissue. This prevents the flow of the fluid within the tubules that would otherwise cause tooth pain.

Aside from this, Sensodyne also has NovaMin technology, which is scientifically proven to help repair sensitive teeth. This forms a tooth-like layer over exposed dentine to help continually repair and protect sensitive areas. It actually seeks out and repairs vulnerable areas that cause the short sharp pain into the teeth.

Sensodyne offers a range of specifically formulated toothpaste, toothbrush and floss. It works to relieve pain due to tooth sensitivity and provides clinically proven lasting protection all day.

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Sensodyne is now available in sachet nationwide for only P10 (based on SRP). For more product information, log on to http://sensodyne.com.ph/.