Perio Protect Case Study
Dr. Patricia Stoker, of Columbia, MD, has received the Orkos Award for demonstrated professional excellence in her case study report of a patient receiving treatment gum disease. Dr. Stoker’s patient suffered from severe gum disease complicated by a relentless gagging reflex.
The Award was founded by Perio Protect, LLC to encourage and recognize the contributions of dental professionals using minimally invasive methods to treat gum disease. To receive the Orkos Award, doctors and hygienists submit documentation demonstrating significantly improved clinical outcomes for patients after treatment. The qualifying evidence presented by Dr. Stoker was of particular interest because the patient suffered from an exceptionally strong gag reflex and significant anxiety regarding dental treatment, making any oral procedure especially difficult. The patient’s anxiety was so serious that even the routine task of taking a full mouth series of radiographs had to be broken up into several appointments.
According to Dr. Stoker, the patient in the study had “refused scaling/root planing in other offices and in ours. Her prior experiences refusing mechanical treatment left her frustrated and discouraged. Then, she was referred to us by another patient of ours whose husband has been successfully treated in our practice with the Perio Tray® delivery of medication under the gums.”
Perio Tray® is a non-invasive prescription tray used to deliver medication into the sulcus to delaminate biofilm layers and fight gingival infections before or after mechanical debriding procedures are completed. When the chemical therapy is used first, the scope of mechanical debriding procedures may be reduced and patient comfort is often improved.
The patient cited in the study “was very pleased to be offered a non-invasive option to help address her infected gums. She refused the mechanical procedures we recommended, as all of her previous dentists had recommended,” Dr Stoker explained, “and started treatment with the medication delivered by the trays shortly after her first visit with us.”
To deliver medication effectively, each Perio Tray® is fabricated to fit precisely over the individual patient’s teeth and gums. Dr. Stoker noted that “in order to obtain the impressions for the prescription Perio Trays®, the patient took valium premedication prior to the appointment. The patient now wears one Perio Tray® at a time to decrease the gagging associated with having something foreign in her mouth.”
Before treatment the patient had a complete periodontal evaluation. 75% of the sites in her mouth were bleeding before treatment. Pockets between her teeth and gums measured as deep as 7mm, and over 50% of the pockets measured deeper than the accepted healthy depth of 3mm. At the patient’s most recent hygiene visit, only 7% of her pockets were bleeding and the deepest pocket depth measured 5mm. These results come from daily use of the Perio Tray delivery of medication with oxidizing agents. No other treatment has been rendered. “While we continue to recommend mechanical debridement for the pockets that continue to bleed or that measure more than 3mm,” Dr. Stoker explains, “she resists the recommendation. She is fearful of the treatment and her gagging reflex makes it almost impossible to complete the debriding procedures. She says she is pleased with these results and she is healthier than she has been in many years.”
Dr. Stoker has been in private practice for more than twenty years. She graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery and received additional training in advanced dentistry as a resident at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. She continues to update her knowledge on the latest dental treatments by completing courses at the esteemed Pankey Institute for Advanced Dental Education and by regularly attending continuing education seminars. It was at one such seminar that Dr. Stoker received the training and certification to offer the Perio Protect Method® to her patients.
For additional information about the Orkos Award and the current winners, go to www.theorkosaward.com. To learn more about the Perio Protect Method®, visit www.perioprotect.com.