20 out of 23 dentists who tested Stingfree recommend it to their patients with snuff lesions or irritated gums.
” The results of the Stingfree study indicate that built-in protection for the gingiva is beneficial for oral health. Therefore, I encourage dental colleagues to inform their snus-using patients according to the following recommendations
- Snus-using patients with snus lesions should be discouraged from continuing to use snus.
- Inform patients that receding gums cannot regenerate
- Inform patients who do not want to stop using snus that there are tablets available to protect against snuff lesions and gum irritation.
- Advise patients who do not want to quit snus or use gum protection pills to regularly rotate the snus placement site.”
Mathias Ahl, dentist
Expert at the Stingfree test with sniffing dentists
Background: Snus and nicotine pouch users report high levels of oral health problems such as receding gums, snuff lesions and gingivitis. Bengt Wiberg has invented a snus and nicotine pouch with an impermeable barrier against the user's gums. This barrier is intended to reduce stinging and the negative effects of snus and nicotine pouches on the gums and oral mucosa.
Methodology: A study involving 23 dentists in Sweden, who themselves use snus and/or nicotine pouches, evaluated the effect of Stingfree Strong Blue Mint on oral health. Stingfree is a nicotine pouch with integrated gum protection that is patent approved in the US and Europe.
The study is available for download at Acta Odontologica Scandinavica and National Library of Medicine (PubMed®).
Each participant first took pictures of their gums and filled in an oral health declaration. Then the test subjects swapped their regular snus/nicotine portions/white snus for using only Stingfree Strong Blue Mint, in the same location in the mouth, for 5 weeks. After that, the dentists took new pictures and filled in a new oral health declaration. Dentist Mattias Ahl, who did not take part in the test, acted as an expert witness.
Results: The prevalence of snuff lesions among participants decreased from 95.7% to 65.2%. The grade of snuff lesion decreased by 51.9 % for the test group from an average of 2.26 before the test to 1.09 (the Axéll scale uses grades 1-4 to measure oral lesions). The incidence of gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) decreased with 100%. The proportion of reported cases of gum irritation decreased by 90%.
Conclusions: The final results indicate a significant improvement in the oral health of the participants, suggesting that the Stingfree guard may offer a protective effect against snus-related oral lesions and other common oral health problems.
Recommendation from the dentists: At the end of the study, all dentists were given the results and asked whether they would recommend Stingfree products to patients with snuff lesions or irritated gums who are unwilling to stop using snuff.
20 out of 23 dentists responded that they would recommend these patients to try Stingfree snus/nicotine pouches to alleviate their problems.
BEFORE: A snuffing dentist's gums with a snuff lesion grade 3 of 4.
AFTERSame dentist after 5 weeks of using only Stingfree Strong Blue Mint. The snuff lesion has completely healed.