What is Perio Protect?

Perio Protect is a comprehensive approach to gum disease treatment. The approach combines dental cleanings with the comfortable Perio Tray^® delivery of medication that patients use at home between office visits. The Perio Tray is similar to a mouth-guard, but it has a special sealing system to deliver medication below the gums. You put medication in the tray and wear it for a few minutes a day. The medication fights the infections. It’s that easy.

The Perio Protect treatment approach uniquely adds more effective home-care to a treatment plan. Bacteria that cause inflammation and disease are hidden deep below the gums and are extremely difficult to manage at home with toothbrushes, rinses and floss. The Perio Tray is able to reach deep into the pockets between the teeth and gums, applying medication to infected gum tissue that cannot be reached using toothbrushes, dental floss, or mouthwashes. In fact, the Perio Protect Tray was created to help patients fight periodontal diseases in the most minimally invasive way possible; that’s where Dr. Duane C. Keller comes in.

As the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Perio Protect, Dr. Keller has a personal history of battling periodontal disease, helping his mother find an alternative treatment option to invasive gum surgeries. When her first surgery left her with spaces between her teeth, tooth sensitivity and pain, Dr. Keller began searching for a way to avoid gum disease surgeries. He wanted to stop the progression of the disease before surgery was needed. After trying several methods of applying gum disease medication unsuccessfully using small brushes, dental floss soaked in medication, injections, and more, the Perio Tray was created – a device designed to deliver medicine directly beneath the gums.

How Does the Perio Protect Tray Work?

The special internal seals in the Perio Tray make is possible to place medication directly into the pockets between teeth and gum tissue. Your dentist or hygienist will take measurement of your mouth and send them to the dental laboratory along with a mold of your mouth. The lab will use these measurements to customized an internal seal for each Perio Tray. When the tray is ready, patients put medication directly in the Tray and wear it for several minutes each day.

The Perio Tray works by sealing close to the gums to prevent medication from seeping into the mouth. The pressure created by the seal forces the medication into pockets under the gum line, reaching deeper than any other non-invasive gum disease treatment can. The daily application of medication fights the bacterial infections and keeps the disease-causing bacteria from recolonizing, which allows the gums to heal.

How to Use the Perio Tray^®

Each patient will use the Perio Tray differently based on their doctor’s recommendations. Most patients start with 2-3 Perio Tray applications per day, each 10-15 minutes, but the actual frequency and duration will be determined by the treating dentist based on individual patient needs. Once the infection is under control and the inflammation and bleeding decrease, Perio Tray usage generally drops to one time per day and continues to be used to manage periodontal disease, which is unfortunately never cured. The best part, in addition to better disease management, is that you will also have fresher breath and whiter teeth! Who doesn’t want that?

Why Use Perio Protect for Gum Disease Treatment?

The Perio Tray has many advantages as a gum disease treatment device, but perhaps the most important benefits of the Perio Tray is that it is a more comfortable, more effective, and less invasive option to deliver medication deep below the gums. The tray may also help patients avoid the need for systemic antibiotics, which can be over-used. In addition, the Perio Tray is not technique sensitive. Unlike tooth brushing and flossing which requires patients to use specific techniques, with the Perio Tray, patients just add medication and pop it into their mouth. This use also allows for a more complete treatment of biofilms beneath the gums.

Perio Protect provides training for dental professionals who wish to incorporate the Perio Tray into their periodontal disease treatments. To find a dentist who uses the Perio Tray as a minimally invasive gum disease treatment, search our site for Perio Protect providers near you.