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Finland’s Koite Health boosts presence in Scandinavia; signs Lumoral® deal with Danish medical and dentistry product distributor

Finland’s Koite Health boosts presence in Scandinavia; signs Lumoral® deal with Danish medical and dentistry product distributor

Finnish health technology company Koite Health Oy has signed a distribution agreement with a Danish distributor of specialized dentistry products in the tissue regenerative and surgical fields, such as dental implantology. Following the accord, Puredent ApS will also offer Lumoral® – the latest technology for improved oral health self-care – to consumers and oral health professionals in the Danish and Icelandic markets.

– Common to the solutions that we offer is that they can differentiate clinics from other clinics and help their patients reach better oral health, says Thomas Boas, Founder and CEO of Puremedical Group ApS.

Puredent is part of the Danish Puremedical Group – a company that operates in the dentistry, medical and veterinary fields. Thus far, the company's dentistry business has offered solutions mainly for the dental repair and restoration segments. Following the Lumoral agreement, Puredent will focus more marketing efforts on the continuously growing preventative oral care market in Denmark and Iceland. 

According to Boas, Lumoral is a unique product that helps prevent and treat common oral diseases such as gingivitis, periodontitis, and dental caries. 

Dental caries is the most common infectious disease in the world. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), severe periodontal diseases are estimated to affect around 19% of the global adult population, representing over 1 billion cases worldwide. The main risk factors for periodontal disease are poor oral hygiene and tobacco use.

Boas notes that Lumoral fits well in the company's product line as more and more dentists and medical physicians are beginning to understand the close link between oral and general health. This also means that a growing number of dentists are starting to put increased emphasis on oral disease prevention.

Boas stresses that the current dental market situation differs from the pre-Covid-19 era five years ago. This is when Puredent first sought to enter the preventive oral health market with an innovative diagnostics test that reveals whether a person has periodontal disease or not in their mouth. The so-called Matrix metalloproteinase-8 immunological test (aMMP-8) developed by Dr. Timo Sorsa – Professor of Periodontology at Helsinki University and Karolinska University – helps detect whether there is a periodontal degradation process taking place in a person's gum pocket before it is even possible to see visually.

Professor Sorsa is one of the most respected periodontal researchers in the world. He has been developing and patenting many solutions for treating periodontitis, including the most validated clinical test for active periodontitis identification. 

The market in Denmark was not ready then, but it is ready now. Increased knowledge of the link between oral diseases and general health encourages oral health professionals to provide early diagnosis and preventive care. This is where both the antibacterial Lumoral method and the aMMP-8 diagnostics test come in handy,  Boas notes.

According to Boas, even the Danish Association of Dentists is pushing the "Healthy Mouth, Healthy Body" theme today.

– Lumoral is a novel product category in preventative oral care. Minimal effort can have a significant effect. If you look at this from the dentists' point of view, Lumoral is a way to improve their patient's overall health as home care between the dental appointments.

According to Boas, the signed distribution deal helps to bridge Puremedical Group's dentistry and medical businesses closer together and create synergy benefits. 

Thomas Boas, Founder and CEO of Puremedical Group ApS.

Lumoral – a novel, cutting-edge technology 

The agreement between Koite Health and Puredent includes all activities necessary to launch a novel medical device and a new technology in the Danish and Icelandic markets. According to Boas, the agreement will initially mean focusing on B2C operations, making the Lumoral method available to the Danish consumer and Icelandic users through a local partner of Puredent.

Through extensive communication, the company seeks to ensure that dental professionals in the Danish B2B market are also introduced early to the benefits of Lumoral treatment so that they can start recommending the treatment to their patients.

Boas points out that good oral hygiene requires adequate motor and mental skills. For example, flossing or brushing can be difficult because of age or physical disability, leaving bacteria-filled dental plaque between teeth. On the other hand, even when brushing teeth perfectly, studies show that an effective electric toothbrush only removes about 65% of harmful oral bacteria.

– With Lumoral you can't go wrong. This is why the Lumoral method is so unique. With brushing and flossing, you must follow strict procedures (twice a day, 7 days a week, 2 minutes tooth brushing) to remove plaque efficiently from your mouth and reach optimal oral health. Still, the efforts might not be enough. With Lumoral you just swish the mouthwash in your mouth and then let the antibacterial effect of the mouthpiece do its work.

Boas says that it is crucial that scientific evidence of Lumoral's efficacy is communicated directly to dental professionals to help spread the message of Lumoral's scientifically proven effect on oral health. Several scientific studies that clearly show the clinical impact of Lumoral's antibacterial dual light therapy have already been released.

Lumoral is changing the future of dental care at home

Research shows that Lumoral's antibacterial aPDT phototherapy effectively eliminates harmful bacteria in the mouth while treating advanced gum disease. Similar light-activated antibacterial treatments have been used in dental clinics, for example. However, the problem has been the cost and frequency of these treatments to provide sufficient efficacy. 

Preventive health care, which includes the use of the antibacterial Lumoral method to improve oral hygiene, will quickly pay for itself. Preventive oral health care also brings significant savings to society. This applies not only to dental care but to the entire healthcare system. Lumoral supports regular mechanical dental hygiene, helps achieve gum health, and prevents inflammation when regular dental hygiene is insufficient.

Puredent aims at providing its customers with the best possible modern treatment for oral diseases.  

Boas sees multiple groups of people who can benefit most from using Lumoral. These include patients undergoing orthodontic treatment, patients into fitness sports and promoting healthy living habits, elderly patients with limited motor abilities, and competitive athletes as well as patient groups in cancer, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

– The timing of this cooperation is likely to be very good. This cooperation is an exciting tool for expanding into the prevention business.

Sakari Nikinmaa, Koite Health's CEO, the partnership agreement's benefits are mutual. Partnership with Thomas Boas and his Puredent team are an important step for Lumoral to strengthen its reach in the Scandinavian market.

– Our strategy is to partner with industry leaders to raise awareness among professionals about the Lumoral product and its benefits and to build a global sales structure to secure product availability globally.

– By working together, we can take oral health to a new level and provide patients with the best possible treatment experience and outcomes. Koite Health's clinical results and Puredent's expertise and organization are perfectly combined with Lumoral's unique features and efficiency, says Nikinmaa.


Sakari Nikinmaa, Co-founder and CEO of Koite Health Oy.

 

  

 

  

  

 

 

 




A major gingivitis research in Europe reveals a grim fact: brushing your teeth is not enough – Finnish innovation treats and prevents periodontitis efficiently

A major gingivitis research in Europe reveals a grim fact: brushing your teeth is not enough – Finnish innovation treats and prevents periodontitis efficiently

The breakthrough study shows that eliminating the bacteria contained in dental plaque should be as vital a part of dental hygiene as brushing your teeth and flossing.

HELSINKI, Finland (October 13, 2022) Europe’s largest periodontitis study is currently being carried out at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. The first results of the three-year study indicate clearly that using the Lumoral device created by Finnish health tech company Koite Health reduces gingivitis and improves dental hygiene significantly. Lumoral utilizes an efficient antibacterial method developed by Finnish researchers that eliminates disease-causing bacteria from dental plaque.

Periodontitis, a chronic infection caused by bacteria, is a disease that affects as many as 70% of people in Western countries. Periodontitis is the sixth most common disease in the world that can also lead to other conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Infections in the mouth are mainly caused by accumulated dental plaque, that can lead to tartar buildup if not removed properly. 

Brushing and flossing isn’t enough – more than half of the participants achieved healthy gums after only three months of antibacterial treatment

The report covering the three-month results has been sent for publishing in a special edition of Dentistry Journal. The report is currently available at Preprints. The study shows that 54 percent (N=59) of participants that used Lumoral were healed from inflammation of the gums based on the BOP(bleeding on probing) index – 2.5 times more than in the control group that didn’t use the device. In the control group, only 22 percent of participants had healthy gums after three months. The participants that used Lumoral had a significantly lower amount of plaque build-up, whereas the control group still had the same amount of plaque left.

You can only remove half of the plaque by brushing your teeth – it’s no wonder cavities and gingivitis are among the most common diseases in the world. If we want to improve the results of dental care treatments, we need to focus on removing the plaque that is left on the teeth after brushing them”, says Professor Timo Sorsa from the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases at the University of Helsinki.

Our hypothesis was correct: because 95 percent of dental diseases are caused by bacteria in the plaque, regularly eliminating dental plaque improves dental hygiene as well as prevents and treats dental and gum disease. The results are exceptional and prove that using Lumoral when treating gum disease makes the treatment a lot more efficient than before”, explains one of the developers of Lumoral, heart surgeon Tommi Pätilä.

Deep gum pockets can store bacteria: Lumoral removes bacteria from where your toothbrush can’t reach

In periodontitis, the advanced gum inflammation caused by plaque and tartar damages the periodontal fibers. This leads to deepening of the gum pockets. As the disease advances, the infection causes a loss of tissue, and ultimately may lead to losing one or more teeth. Periodontitis is prevalent, as up to half of over 50-year-olds suffer from the disease. Taking good care of dental hygiene is important, but in cases of chronic gum disease, the gum pockets need to be regularly cleaned by a professional. However, cleaning gum pockets with traditional methods can be difficult, which leads to more bacteria filling the pockets, thus causing further infections.

Periodontitis is often asymptomatic for a long time. Unfortunately, pain is often the first motivator to get treated”,Sorsa continues. 

The research shows that two out of three (67%) participants that used the Lumoral device were able to reduce the number of deep gum pockets by half compared to the initial situation. Four participants were able to completely eradicate deep gum pockets. The results are significantly better than the participants in the control group.

We want to permanently improve at-home dental hygiene. Before, advanced gingivitis has only been treated at the dentist, where the waiting lists are long and the treatment might be expensive. Using the Lumoral device combined with proper treatment from professionals reduces the number of infections in the mouth. Without proper at-home care, treatment done by oral health professionals is not as effective as desired, either, so using Lumoral is also beneficial for them. We expect the further results to be even better after the participants have been using Lumoral regularly for six months”, Pätilä concludes.

About the study and Lumoral

In the study carried out at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, periodontitis is treated with the currently best-known methods that include teaching the participants a proper toothbrushing technique and providing them with new, modern electric toothbrushes. The teeth and gum pockets of all participants are cleaned properly before the study commences. After that, the participants are divided into two groups. One of the groups will use the antibacterial Lumoral method at home and the other group is a control group and won’t use the Lumoral device. The participants’ oral health is checked after three months and again after six months in total.

Both groups consist of 100 participants that already suffer from periodontitis. The research is carried out in groups of 50. In the research, every tooth is measured from six different measuring points. For example, if a participant has 25 teeth, they will have 150 measuring points in total. Bleeding gums are a sign of the periodontitis advancing and causing damage in the mouth.

The Lumoral device combines antibacterial photodynamic treatment (aPDT) with antibacterial blue light (aBL). The Lumoral method is based on the antibacterial “red” PDT-light that promotes oral health and how it activates the light-sensitive Lumorinse mouth rinse, thus creating a reaction that eliminates harmful bacteria from the mouth. There is no similar product on the market, and similar treatment has only been provided at dental clinics.

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For more information:
Tommi Pätilä
Chair of Board & co-founder
Koite Health
+358 44 013 0770

tommi@koitehealth.com 

Media kit with pictures

Koite Health

Koite Health is a Finnish health tech company whose innovation, Lumoral, based on dual-light therapy has revolutionized Finnish preventive dental care. The company's expert team consists of experienced doctors and technology experts. Founders Sakari Nikinmaa and Tommi Pätilä founded Koite Health in September 2018 with the help of the Biodesign project and the commercialization project funded by Business Finland and Aalto University.

Lumoral, developed by the company, is a teeth cleaning device that is used in addition to regular tooth brushing. The device is suitable for everyone, but is especially beneficial for those with cavities or gingivitis. Lumoral has been scientifically developed, and its antibacterial effect is well established. Lumoral is a class II medical and CE approved device, and more than 5,000 units have been sold so far.