New PoliCare™ program supports patients throughout denture journey

New PoliCare™ program supports patients throughout denture journey,
helps dental professionals provide helpful start to that journey


PITTSBURGH, PA – (May 20, 2009) Each year, nearly two million Americans are fitted for their first denture. While dentures can improve a person’s dental health, smile, appearance and quality of life, the transition to and acceptance of this change can be challenging for many people. Among the key challenges: getting the right information to prepare them for this new phase in life, and getting emotional support since the experience can be embarrassing and stigmatizing, which can also inhibit patient inquiry. The dental professional can serve as a helpful support and information source, but all too often, patients do not reach out to the dental professional, since they are embarrassed, traumatized, and often don’t even know what to ask. Dental professionals, in turn, often don’t know how to approach these patients. Therefore a huge need gap exists between patient and professional.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare has therefore developed the PoliCare program to help bridge the gap between patient and professional, by helping consumers better understand life with dentures, and by helping the dental professional encourage inquiry and discussion with the patient. This one-of-a-kind outreach program, from the makers of Polident® Denture Cleanser and Super PoliGrip® Adhesive, helps denture wearers understand the process of being fitted for and wearing their dentures and provides a helping hand in the transition.

The patient website, MyPoliCare.com, offers patients and caregivers valuable support and information, including: preparing for dentures, living with dentures, and proper care and maintenance of dentures. By encouraging patients to visit MyPoliCare.com, dentists can help answer their questions outside of the office. After enrolling in the PoliCare, either on the website or by filling out a reply card in their dentists’ office, patients will receive additional promotions and members-only offers.

Qualifying dentists who join PoliCare will also receive a number of benefits, including complimentary patient education and practice management tools, as well as materials to send home with patients to help ease their transition to new dentures. Upon enrolling in the program, dentists will receive 12 Complete Care Starter Kits for patients, which include valuable product samples such as Polident Cleansing Tablets, Super PoliGrip Denture Adhesive Cream, a denture brush and bath, a patient education brochure, and coupons worth up to $17 in savings on Polident and Super PoliGrip products. Office posters and counter cards are also provided to encourage patients to register with PoliCare through MyPoliCare.com.

Additional tools available to dentists through PoliCare include a patient self-assessment quiz to help dentists understand and manage patient expectations prior to beginning the denture process. On the website, dental-professional.com/PoliCare, dentists can download and customize office materials such as appointment reminder emails and cards, as well as denture information for the practice website and newsletter.

“The transition to life with new dentures or partials can be overwhelming, even traumatic, for many patients,” says Dawn Kosanovich, Senior Brand Manger, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare. “PoliCare is intended to help busy dental professionals better serve these patients by providing support and information throughout this transition, to help them start this new chapter in their lives in the best way possible.”

For more information about PoliCare or GlaxoSmithKline’s other dental care products, visit www.dental-professional.com or call 1.800.652.5625.