Dental Professionals: How to Properly Size TePe Interdental Brushes for Patients

The great thing about the TePe interdental line is how extensive it is. You really can tailor patient education for cleaning interdental spaces to exactly what the patient needs. However, getting started with the TePe line can be overwhelming. Especially, if you have been using only 1, 2 or 3 sizes for interdental cleaners. 

We hate wasting product as we try to size our patients, so here is a helpful tip for sizing TePe's interdental brushes. I take my probe, the one I already have on my tray, and use it as my sizing tool. The probe is slightly bigger than the wire of the blue brush. I insert the probe as I would an interdental brush:

• If the probe rubs the sides of the teeth, I would size blue or down.
• If the probe doesn’t even fit through the embrasure space, then you are looking at a pink or orange for that space.
• If the probe goes through the embrasure space and does not touch the sides of the teeth and the tissue allows, I would try a yellow TePe brush.
• As the embrasure space increases to a class 2 or 3, you will find the green, purple, grey or black will work great!

Don’t be afraid of those larger brushes. You want the brush to be snug so that the bristles collapse as they enter the embrasure space, branch out into the curvy areas of the tooth, and then exit fully on the lingual aspect to help clean that lingual line angle. As long as the wire is not rubbing the sides of the teeth, try the bigger sizes. If you feel that the wire is rubbing or the tissue fills the embrasure space, then size down.

Good luck and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me or leave a comment below!