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‘Strong Gag Reflex’

Award Winner: Dr. Patricia Stoker

Woodside Dental in Columbia, MD.

Dr. Patricia Stoker, Orkos Award Winner.

Dr. Patricia Stoker received the Orkos Award for her work treating a patient with gum disease who also suffers from an extremely strong gag reflex and significant anxiety regarding dental treatment. The anxiety is serious enough that the routine task of taking a full mouth series of radiographs had to be broken up into several appointments.

Due to the gagging reflex and anxiousness, the patient has extensive experience refusing mechanical treatment in several dental offices which left her frustrated and discouraged. She was referred to Dr. Stoker by another patient whose husband had been successfully treated in Dr. Stoker’s practice with the Perio Tray® delivery of medication under the gums. The patient started the non-invasive delivery of medication with the Perio Tray® shortly after her new patient visit.

The patient needed anti-anxiety medication before every procedure. In order to obtain the impressions for the prescription Perio Trays®, the patient took valium premedication prior to the appointment. The patient wears one Perio Tray® at a time to decrease the gagging associated with having something foreign in her mouth.

Before treatment, the patient had 133 bleeding sites with probing depths up to 7mm. At a recent hygiene visit, she had 10 bleeding points with the deepest probing depth at 5mm. These results come from daily use of the Perio Tray® delivery of 1.7% hydrogen peroxide gel. No other treatment has been rendered. “While we continue to recommend mechanical debridement for the remaining pockets that continue to bleed or that measure more than 3mm,” Dr. Stoker explains, “she resists the recommendation. She is pleased with these results and is healthier than she has been in many years.”

Learn more information about the prescription Perio Tray® from Perio Protect.

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