Stealth Mask introduces its P3 mask, designed specifically for the dental team to give a cleaner and more subtle dental aesthetic.
Since March 2020, dentists have had a monumental task in ensuring the safety of their patients and practice staff.
Often resorting to using their own funds to purchase PPE there was, and still is, little in the way of dental-specific PPE. In particular respiratory masks available in the market.
Cloth masks are adequate for general practice usage. But AGPs present different challenges altogether. They require specialist equipment for patient and practice staff safety.
Disposable masks are not a long-term solution for dentists because of the need to frequently replace them. And the design is not durable or robust enough, especially for long procedures, so costs can start to mount up.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Dentistry discovered Stealth, and particularly the Stealth P3 Face Mask, fairly early in the pandemic.
What the dental community thinks
In a recent survey, dentists reported the Stealth P3 mask was the gold standard for their ’usage guidance’. Dentists and their staff were ‘more confident returning to work because of the protective qualities’. And dentists felt ‘less stressed about PPE supply’.
Like a band that gains ground by audiences hearing it live, it seemed the Stealth Mask P3 had been, and still is, a bit of a ‘sleeper hit’; in modern parlance the Stealth P3 ‘went viral’ in the dental community.
A few of the many hundreds of reviews and comments from the last year:
- ‘I have worn this mask daily for the last six weeks and regularly for the last eight months, it is so comfortable and easy to wear.’ – Martin L
- ‘A good FFP3/P3 mask, comfortable to wear and easy to clean. The filters are easily replaced.’ – Cornelius Y
- ‘Love the mask, comfort and protection!’ – Dominika R
Initially designed and developed for industrial use, the success of the P3 was a surprise to everyone. Although the first sales of face masks to dental practices started shortly after the beginning of the first lockdown, feedback from the dental community is that certified P3 face masks were starting to gain acceptance anyway. Particularly for aerosol generating procedures.
About the Stealth P3
Manufactured by well-known HEPAC filter manufacturer, Air Filtration Solutions Ltd, the Stealth P3 has proved a great success with both dentists and DCPs alike.
The current Stealth P3 mask offers capsule style HEPAC filtration that is up to 99.99% effective against airborne particles. Because of the performance, and competitive pricing, the P3 offers dentists a cost-effective AGP solution. It ensures the highest level of protection for the dentist, their team and patients.
Dentist Dharminy said: ‘The Stealth P3 Mask has been a lifesaver for my dental practice. We are able to safely treat our patients, particularly during aerosol generating procedures.
‘Purchasing the mask is also a very efficient, comfortable and affordable way to guarantee my patients and my safety during these unprecedented times. The masks are very easy to clean, which is extremely important.’
The next step
From a recent Stealth survey, dentists expressed their desire for a dental-specific P3 mask.
A deeper dive into the survey shows that dentists wanted a profession specific mask for a number of reasons, foremost of which was – patient confidence.
We have never met anyone that actually likes the experience of going to the dentist (we’re all very grateful for the professionalism and skill when we have been though); it’s an experience shared with few other necessary medical interventions.
Dentists clearly expressed a desire to find some way of improving the already nerve-wracking experience made worse by the wearing of a seemingly ‘Darth Vader’ inspired mask.
A new P3 mask
Using this valuable feedback, and our own research, we’re launching a completely new, dental-specific mask on Monday 22 February.
Redesigned and in a new ‘pure white’ colour aesthetic, the mask is the first dental-specific face mask available in the UK, and perhaps the world.
The close-fitting and comfortable Dental P3 mask comes in two different sizes – small to medium and medium to large. It utilises hypoallergenic materials and a non-latex seal with a pre-shaped design to fit securely on any wearer’s face.
With protection for staff and patients facilitated by our HEPAC filters, the new mask increases patient confidence, gives a cleaner and more subtle dental aesthetic, an easier cleaning experience and is the natural conclusion to our ongoing research into face mask technology and aesthetics.
Added value
To further enhance safety and to remove the need to remember when you last changed filters, we’ve developed a further two specific offerings:
- A new filter changing recommendation
- A completely new service aimed at reducing practice workload.
Feedback shows that remembering when to change filters has created extra workload and some confusion with practice staff struggling to record filter usage. Failure to remember to change could also result in overuse. This could easily endanger practice staff and patients alike.
As a result, we’ve changed our filter change recommendation to ‘every 28 days’ as opposed to ’28 days use’.
We have developed a subscription service to make filter ordering more efficient and cost effective.
You can purchase a subscription either with your new mask or as a separate item. It is set to automatically mail your specified number of filter sets every 28 days.
The subscription service is open ended and can be cancelled at any time. Priced at only £9.50 a month, subscription offers a significant saving over one-off purchasing.
Both of the above are going live in conjunction with the new ‘Pure White’ P3 dental mask today.
The future of PPE in dentistry
Whilst the onset of COVID-19 has driven the growth of our P3 sales over the last year, some feedback has intimated that enhanced PPE is here to stay.
As both a precaution and a way of reassuring nervous patients that may be wary of coming into practices there is a view that enhanced PPE is a key component in rebuilding confidence in the wider patient community.
We will write further about this on our blog at www.blog.stealthmask.co.uk. But in the meantime we would welcome dentists’ views on this subject. You can email us at [email protected].
