How can the medication in the OraFresh rinse get into the subgingival pockets hidden beneath my gums?
Bacteria need to be exposed to a minimum concentration of antibiotic in order to be killed. This concentration is typically less than 10 Micrograms per Milliliter. The concentration of medication in the OraFresh rinse is 40 Milligrams per Milliliter (40,000 μg/ml), which is 4000 times higher than the levels required to kill bacteria. Therefore, even a very tiny amount (much less than a fraction of a drop) would contain sufficient medication to kill the bacteria in the pocket. Gum tissue that is infected is typically swollen, which creates spaces around the tooth. When the OraFresh rinse is gargled, the medication is therefore able to penetrate and accumulate in these pockets via 3 mechanisms: • Absorption through cell walls of the swollen tissues. • Direct leakage of the drug into the pocket, particularly under the pressure created by gargling. • Through gravity (in the case of lower teeth the rinse runs down the tooth surface to the root located at the bottom of the infected pocket).
