I can't remember his entire explanation, but essentially it was something like Frontline breaks the actual cycle of reproduction, which will over time result in many fewer ticks.
It was something like that.
He also said there's some new gadget out there that the pest control dudes are terribly excited about (???) which is some kind of contraption that mice like and go into and when they go into it, they get a big squirt of Frontline which --- um, which --- um, it does something the pest dudes think is really just out of this world, but I can't remember what it is.
Apparently, Advantix lacks these special qualities. Well, whatever. I'm all for getting rid of the *&^%^%$ ticks, so if it means using Frontline for a year or so, by gosh, I'll use Frontline. I'm also going to get some Frontline Spray, though.