Special category: Pre-surgery Periodontal Protocol

The leading clinician in this field is Jorge Pinero. Over the past 5 years, he has treated over 450 heart and valve transplant patients. With these most critical of patients, post-op infections can lead to a 30-60% mortality rate. His results have been positive and gratifying: 100% elimination of oral-source bacteremia (blood infection) in treated patients. We have studied with Dr. Pinero, and our methods are based on what he has learned.

No surgery should be performed while stubborn, very active infections are occurring anywhere in the body. Surgical wounds are particularly susceptible to damage from aggressive infections. Antibiotics alone are limited, and getting worse, at controlling this problem; oral bacteria are particularly resistant to systemic antibiotics (300+ kinds of germs; 15-20% ignore standard antibiotics; germs in oral plaque are 1,000 times more resistant than the same germs in the blood stream.)

Using specific laser techniques as part of a thorough oral decontamination is the safest and most effective way to neutralize these infections. This type of laser treatment seems also to have a latent antimicrobial effect, meaning that the re-growth of germs is significantly reduced for up to several weeks (paralleling the most critical post-surgical healing period).

If anyone you care about is to have major surgery (especially heart or orthopedic procedures), please consider having this extra protection. (Nationally, nearly 1 in 5 hospital patients develop post-surgical infections, primary or malignant.) We will provide this service for everyone, not just our regular patients. Certainly discuss this with your physician; s/he may want more information. Please call if we can help.