Waterpik marked World Oral Health Day this week with the launch of its most advanced water flosser to date. The ProMax™, unveiled March 20, 2026, is powered by SmartAdvance™ Mode — a feature that automatically advances water intensity over time, with clinical data suggesting it can help significantly reverse bleeding gums in as little as six weeks.
The product addresses a well-documented behavioral barrier in water flosser adoption: patients who never increase their intensity setting beyond the initial comfort level.
The Compliance Problem SmartAdvance Solves
Dental clinicians have long understood that water flossing efficacy is closely tied to pressure — higher intensity reaches deeper subgingivally, disrupting more plaque biofilm. The problem is that patients routinely self-limit. Fear of discomfort, or simply never being prompted to advance, keeps many users operating at lower settings indefinitely.
SmartAdvance Mode is designed to remove that friction by starting new users at a comfortable lower intensity and gradually increasing over time as gums become healthier — eliminating the guesswork from intensity selection entirely. Specifically, the automated progression takes users from level 3 up to level 9+ over two weeks of once-daily, one-minute use. The patient never has to manually adjust a setting.
Clinical Claims and ADA Acceptance
The ProMax carries ADA Acceptance for safety and effectiveness, and Waterpik reports it is clinically proven to be up to twice as effective as string floss for removing bacterial plaque, improving gum health, and reducing bleeding. For implant patients specifically, the unit is clinically shown to be up to twice as effective as string floss for improving gum health around implants when used with the included Plaque Seeker™ tip.
Dr. Chris Strandburg, DDS, Waterpik spokesperson, framed the clinical relevance directly: "Bleeding gums are the most common concern I see in practice. ProMax SmartAdvance Mode removes the friction by advancing water intensity gradually and automatically for the user, making it easier to achieve healthier gums."
What's in the Box
The ProMax (model WF-23) features 10 intensity settings, QuietPulse™ technology for noise reduction, a removable 20-ounce reservoir providing 90+ seconds of continuous flossing, two user profiles, and five specialty tips — including a Precision tip for general use, an Orthodontic tip for braces, a Plaque Seeker tip for implants and bridges, and an Implant Denture tip for fixed implant bridges and dentures. A 15-second quadrant timer and progress display round out the user experience features. The ProMax is available for $149.99 on Amazon and Walmart, and is FSA/HSA eligible.
A Note for Clinicians
The ProMax debuted publicly at Chicago Midwinter 2026 before its formal launch announcement, where hygienist Amanda Hill, RDH, BS, demonstrated the SmartAdvance feature for dental professionals. The product is positioned squarely for the recommendation conversation — particularly for patients who have struggled with traditional string flossing compliance, those with implants or orthodontics, and new water flosser users who need a gentler onboarding curve.
Bart Prins, General Manager at Waterpik, described the launch as drawing on the company's 60 years of engineering experience: "PROMAX represents a step change in oral care technology — delivering effective results at home, automatically."
For practices recommending water flossers as part of periodontal maintenance protocols, the automated intensity progression is the most noteworthy clinical feature — it essentially builds the compliance counseling into the device itself.