Sustainable Oral Care: In Conversation with Hero Abdulla - Yakoub

Five25: The Specialist in Preventive Oral Care for All Ages!

From their clinics in Amsterdam, Heemstede, and Landsmeer, Five25 offers FREE preventive and innovative oral care for people up to the age of 25!
Since both Five25 and Smyle are committed to promoting good oral health for everyone, Five25 now uses Smyle products in their clinic.

To get a better understanding of Five25, we sat down for a conversation with Hero Abdulla - Yakoub, co-owner and co-founder of Five25 Dental Hygienists.

Can you tell us a bit more about yourself? Who are you and what do you do in daily life?

I’m Hero Abdulla - Yakoub, and I love traveling with my husband, enjoying great food (though not necessarily cooking it myself), wine, and reading. I’m also deeply passionate about my work, especially when it comes to improving the organizational and business aspects of oral care.

My passion lies in advising practice owners and managers on optimizing their operations and developing their leadership skills.
In daily life, I’m the co-owner and co-founder of Five25 Dental Hygienists.

“Sustainable Oral Care: In Conversation with Hero Abdulla - Yakoub”

"Ideally, I would love to see more change in the (oral) healthcare system by placing a stronger focus on sustainability."

And by sustainability, I don’t just mean environmental awareness. It means we need to focus on providing the right, appropriate, and affordable care—both in the short and long term.
To me, sustainability means the well-being of both patients and care teams, and ensuring that people can enjoy their own teeth for life.
We can only achieve this goal by rethinking our healthcare approach, placing more emphasis on patient-centered and outcome-driven preventive care. This shift would not only lower costs for patients and society as a whole but also help address the growing shortage of dental care professionals—because less curative care will be needed.

What makes Five25 so unique compared to other practices?

At Five25, we apply this vision of sustainability through a strong focus on diagnostics, communication, and prevention. This makes our approach quite different from what you’d experience in a typical practice.

Our dental hygienists receive advanced dental-level training in diagnostics. We also use state-of-the-art diagnostic tools like the QLF camera, which allows us to detect early-stage dental issues and intervene in time with preventive care.
Every patient receives personalized instructions and advice to help them maintain their natural teeth for life—with minimal loss of tissue to cavities, fillings, and other damage.

We’re also running a pilot program that offers free instructions and dental cleanings to everyone aged 18 to 25—the group statistically most at risk for cavities, and most likely to avoid dental care due to cost or lifestyle.
Of course, we treat patients of all ages, from the very first tooth right through to later life with teeth and implants.
You can sign up online at www.five25.com and choose the location nearest to you.
With our approach, we hope to shift the focus in oral healthcare from dentistry to true oral care.

How did you get to know Smyle and its products?

My introduction to Smyle was actually quite special. About six months ago, both Smyle and I were nominated for the "Prevention Project of the Year" award.
During a preliminary meeting, I connected with Almar, one of Smyle’s founders. I was really impressed—especially since innovation in oral care doesn’t usually happen this fast.

Almar introduced me to Smyle’s products, which I then personally tested and experienced.
I also started noticing in the clinic that more and more patients were becoming conscious of what’s in the products they use—ingredients, environmental impact, etc.
That’s when I, as a healthcare provider, became genuinely curious about Smyle’s eco-friendly and sustainable approach to oral care.

Out of all the brands you could partner with, why did you choose Smyle?

We chose Smyle specifically because of their innovative mindset and our shared values and goals.
Smyle places strong emphasis on sustainability in oral care, which perfectly aligns with our own vision for the future of dentistry.
They’ve developed effective and environmentally friendly products, which ties into our mission of preventing oral health issues through focused preventive care.

Even though we come from different backgrounds, Smyle and Five25 both strive for innovation and positive change in oral care.

I also believe we can truly strengthen one another. We can recommend Smyle’s responsible products to our patients, and as professionals, we can also contribute to the (co-)development of new products and create instructional videos to ensure people use them correctly.
I’m convinced that the combination of expertise in oral hygiene and sustainable dental care has the potential to be a powerful partnership!

If you could give Smylers one golden tip about oral care, what would it be?

One valuable tip I’d love to share with all Smylers:
Dental plaque is the root cause of nearly all oral health problems.
If you make sure to remove all plaque thoroughly at least once a day—including along the gumline and between your teeth—you can prevent nearly every oral issue.
Daily plaque control is the key to excellent oral health, fresh breath, and keeping your own teeth for life.