Periowave, photodynamic disinfection. Periogen, dissolves calculus?

This post relates to some of my recent battles with tooth health. Three months ago I had healed all of the cavities in my teeth. To celebrate, I started eating sugar.  Chocolate energy bars are so good after a workout!

But, now, I must pay the price: pain and money. I have a new cavity in one tooth and another tooth broke while I was flossing. I had the large hole filled with a temporary filling and I'm investigating several ugly options for that.

Meanwhile, I'm told I have lots of calculus deposits below my gum line and that I'll need go get numbed up in my entire mouth and have my teeth roots scraped smooth. This is called scaling and root planing (SRP). It requires 12 shots. No. Way. I do not want to do that. I HATE SHOTS!!! They make me want to hit people, to fight back against the pain, to defend myself. Even after I'm numb, I KNOW someone is damaging my gums with a drill. I don't like it.

I'd almost rather just get the heart attack from the bacteria that cause endocarditis and die. Irrational, I know. Odds are that I am not even half way done with my life, so I need to think about what is best long term.

There must be a better way than SRP. At the edge of depression, I dared to Google the words "disolves calculus" and my hope paid off. Tonight I spent $120 on some Peroigen, a measurer and a special syringe to deliver the Periogen goodness to my tooth roots.  I already own a water pick, but I don't use it. As soon as my order arrives, I will use it daily to slowly remove tarter below the gum line (see Periogen below).  I'll share my before and after pocket depth measurements to let you know if it worked.

So, if you are like me, you will love these two things:

Periowave™ is a quick and painless technology that works to kill the bacteria associated with periodontal diseases, without the promotion of antibiotic resistance.

...

Periowave is the first treatment system for gum diseases that uses photodynamic disinfection (PDD). PDD is a two-stage process that uses a photosensitizing solution and low-intensity, cold laser light to kill the harmful bacteria and enzymes that cause gum disease.

Periowave is safe, effective and painless, with no known harmful side effects, and is non-antibiotic. - smartsmile

Clinical studies have shown that Periowave in conjunction with SRP can significantly increase CAL, reduce bleeding, and reduce probing depths relative to SRP alone!

Advice: This study shows that if you need a root scaling done that you should get one Periowave treatment after SRP and then another 6 weeks later.

Periowave™ clinical outcomes include a reduction in pocket depth, an increase in clinical attachment level, a decrease in bleeding on probing and an improvement in gingival tissue tone and texture. Periowave treated patients have also been noted to have an overall improved whole mouth effect even at untreated sites. For more information please see Clinical Study Result (link to Clinical Studies) and Case Studies (link to Case Studies)

The Periowave photosensitizer is a proprietary solution. The main ingredients include a phenothiazine dye (methylene blue), pH stabilizers, taste enhancers and mucoadhesive polymers. The Periowave laser and photosensitizing solution are carefully designed to work together, and other diode lasers or photosensitizers will not produce the same photosensitizing effect or clinical results.

The PERIOWAVE Advantage:

Current therapies for oral-cavity disinfection include antibiotics and antiseptics. Antibiotics are less effective in the oral cavity as they must stay uncomfortably in place for long periods of time, frequently resulting in patient non-compliance. Ondine´s periowave treatment can be applied, activated, and then removed from the affected site, maximizing patient comfort. The benefits of this technology include:

* Rapid action
* Broad-spectrum efficacy
* High specificity to disease-causing bacteria, and
* Low levels of toxicity to host cells in vitro
- ddsgadget

Scraping your teeth smooth ( a deep cleaning) is recommended to remove tarter. I can find no studies which show what happens if you use periowave WITHOUT scaling and root planing.

In dentistry, calculus is a form of hardened Dental plaque and is synonymous with tartar. It is caused by the continual accumulation of minerals from saliva on plaque on the teeth. Its rough surface provides an ideal medium for further plaque formation, threatening the health of the gingiva.

Brushing and flossing can remove plaque from which calculus forms; however, once formed, it is too hard and firmly attached to be removed with a toothbrush. Routine dental visits are necessary so that calculus buildup can be professionally removed with ultrasonic tools and specialized sharp instruments.

If you kill the bacteria causing the calculus, calculus it would still be there allowing more bacteria to return.  I know I have some of these hard white deposits below the root line because when part of my tooth recently broke while I was flossing at work, I saw them on the tooth fragment myself.

Dissolving Calculus


If Periogen dissolves calculus below the gumline, I wonder if it could be used in conjuction with periowave as a non painful effective treatment for gum disease.

I don't know what is in Periogen, but one study from 1971 says that daily rinses of a 5.0% solution of amidopolyphosphate resulted in significant calculus reductions (over 50% reduction) but did not damage enamel in tests with cow teeth.

Sub-gingival calculus (tartar) is comprised almost entirely of two components: Fossilized anaerobic bacteria whose biologic composition has been replaced by calcium phosphate salts, and otherwise free floating calcium phosphate salts that have joined the fossilized bacteria in calculus formations. The initial attachment mechanism and the development of mature calculus formations are based on electrical charge. Unlike calcium phosphate, the primary component of teeth, calcium phosphate salts exist as electrically unstable ions.

Although the reason why fossilized bacteria are attracted to one part of the subgingival tooth surface, and not another, is not fully understood; once the first layer is attached, ionized calculus components are naturally attracted to the same places due to electrical charge. The fossilized bacteria pile on top of one another, in a rather haphazard manner. All the while, free-floating ionic components fill in the gaps left by the fossilized bacteria. The resultant hardened structure can be compared to concrete; with the fossilized bacteria playing the role of aggregate, and the smaller calcium phosphate salts being the cement. The once purely electrical association of fossilized bacteria then becomes mechanical, with the introduction of free-floating calcium phosphate salts. The “hardened” calculus formations are at the heart of periodontal disease and treatment.

... Because the fundamental bond of sub-gingival calculus is a weak electrical association, it is entirely possible to deconstruct calculus using a chelating procedure. Such a process would have to be repetitive in nature, perhaps daily, to introduce ions of the opposite charge to the calculus structures in order to chelate existing components; and to prevent new components from attaching to the existing calculus formations.

Sodium fluoride has the opposite charge needed to chelate calculus formations.

... An independent evaluation of the chelation of sub-g calculus formations is documented on YouTube; search criteria “Periogen”

Periogen™ is an effective and safe polyphosphate composition which, when applied daily at home with an oral irrigator, dissolves tartar on contact.