Dentists News F.A.Q. Contact About Us Hygiene Treatment DNA Test Gum Disease Home

What is BOST?

The Bone One Session Treatment, BOST, is an aerobic treatment that eliminates periodontal disease at its source: under the gums.  Performed without invasive surgery, the BOST treatment is fast, comfortable, and reliable.  A typical BOST full mouth treatment is performed in 4-5 hours during a one day period. Due to the length of the appointment, a custom treatment bed is used for added comfort, in favor of a traditional dental chair. After a single BOST treatment, the bone is able to heal and the pockets can fill with healthy tissue.

There are four major concepts that separate BOST from traditional periodontal therapy.

1. BOST is performed in a single session of treatment.
2. BOST aims to minimize damage to the gums, bone, and attachment during the course of the treatment. The micro-surgery procedure is non-invasive; protecting the tissue that has not been damaged by the periodontal disease.
3. BOST creates a strong attachment, which is necessary to heal the gums and bone and prevent further outbreaks of periodontal disease.
4. The recovery process after BOST is quick and easy.

BOST places a great deal of emphasis on easy and effective maintenance.  Using the Aerobic Oral Hygiene Kit, a person is able to maintain healthy gums and bone.

What are the Details of the BOST Therapy?

1. BOST is performed in a single session.
   Unlike other periodontal treatments, the BOST treatment was designed to be completed in a single session. From a medical point of view, treating the entire mouth at once helps prevent re-infection in-between treatments. Some periodontal treatments may take up to twelve appointments, and several months, to treat the whole mouth. Extended treatment plans can leave the mouth in a continued state of infection.
    
   Go to the Gum Disease section to learn more about traditional periodontal treatment.
    
   Furthermore, the immune system is forced to take on two tasks simultanously: fighting bacteria and healing damaged tissue. BOST, on the other hand, removes the local obstacles to healing in one session so that the immune system can work with the singular purpose of repairing the gum tissue, bone, and attachment.
    
   
   

   BOST Treatment

   Patients also enjoy the fact that the treatment only takes one session. The BOST "one day" approach makes it easy for the patient to complete the full mouth treatment. In addition, by removing the surgical elements, doctors are more able to place their undivided attention on the patient in a calm and focused manner.
    
   Many patients begin the BOST treatment hoping to improve their aesthetic situation as well as their ability to chew food effectively. Aesthetic work can include replacing missing teeth, changing the form and color of the teeth, and stabilizing loose teeth. Finishing the treatment in a single day gets people to a restorative plan more quickly. In many cases, some aesthetic work can be completed on the same day as BOST.
2. BOST aims to minimize damage to the gums, bone, and attachment during the course of the treatment. In doing so, it sets up optimal conditions for healing.
   Part of the BOST's success lies in taking full advantage of the body's natural immune responses. By preserving the health of gum tissue and bone cells, the BOST treatment gives the body the ability to dramatically speed up the healing process.
    
   
   

   Smoothing the Bone
   (close-up)

   

   Stretch Flap

   Part of preserving the healthy tissue is accomplished by performing the BOST treatment without incisions or sutures. Our technique, called "stretch flap," allows access all the way down to the deep areas of the roots and the surface of the bone. Diseased tissue is spongier and loses some of its fibrous component. Since there are still elastic fibers inside the tissue, it is possible to stretch the tissue to open access all the way to the surface of the bone with no incisions or sutures. Most importantly, this work on the bone surface is done without cutting the gingival tissue or cutting off the circulation to the bone. This ensures that there is no "necrosis," (death of superficial bone cells) which leads to immediate additional bone loss.
    
   Through the "stretch flap" method, BOST also avoids disinfectants and other methods of killing bacteria under the gums. Disinfectants like hydrogen peroxide can burn healthy gum tissue or stem cells as they kill bacteria. Other non-surgical approaches, such as dental lasers, have the potential to kill healthy bone cells in addition to removing dead tissue. By not using these methods, BOST ensures that all of the healthy tissue possible will be in place to speed up the healing process.
3. BOST creates a stronger attachment, necessary to heal the gums and bone, and prevent further outbreaks of periodontal disease
   Stretching the tissue open--as opposed to making surgical cuts--has some important ramifications for the ability of the attachment to heal itself.
   

   Scar Tissue Attachment
   (close-up)

   Incisions and sutures create scar tissue at the base of the attachment. Scar tissue does not have any mechanism that allows it to attach to the root surface. In addition, it is not very protective of the bone. This makes for an unstable and easily re-infected attachment.
    
   
   

   Attachment Healed

   By minimizing damage to the bone and the surrounding tissue, BOST is able to seal in the bone and refill the pockets with healthy tissue. This seals out the bacteria and eliminates chronic inflammation. There are also now live cells in place to rebuild the bone and eliminate the pockets (see X-rays). These live cells create a very strong connection to the root. After healing, BOST is able to create an attachment that is as strong as an attachment that was never affected by periodontal disease.
    
   This new attachment protects the bone, even when superficial inflammation occurs.

   Compare before and after for signs of bone regeneration

   

   
   Click here to view more case studies
   The BOST method is even effective when teeth are loose and a large percentage of the bone has been lost. By stabilizing the loose teeth with a splint, they are allowed to heal in the same manner as a broken bone.
   

   Loose Teeth

   

   Splint

   

   Composite Reconstruction

4. The recovery process after BOST is quick and easy
   During BOST, healing times are dramatically reduced. Here are some average healing times using BOST.
    
   Day 1: BOST treatment
    
   Day 2: Patient restarts oral hygiene
    
   Day 3: Bleeding stops, follow-up check
    
   Day 4: Pockets start to fill in
    
   Day 5: Inflammation continues to recede
   Day 8: Pocket is sealing up
    
   Day 14: Resume normal chewing
    
   Day 15: Check-up
    
   Day 30: Pockets have filled-in
    
   Day 35: Esthetic restorations or implants can start
    
   Day 45: Bone is beginning to heal
    
   3 months: Check-up
    
   9 months: Bone is completely healed
    
   
   

   PerioAid Hygiene

   Because BOST patients have not had sutures or incisions, they are able to heal very quickly. Most patients have only needed Advil the night of the procedure and are fine by the next day to resume normal activities.
    
   To speed up the healing process, BOST also places a great deal of emphasis on effective maintenance to keep the gums and bone healthy. A new oral hygiene technique guides the healing and preserves the healed result. Along with help from the immune system in its protective preventive phase there is greatly reduced need for professional cleaning and disinfectant products.
    
   After BOST, the oral hygiene routine is done twice per day for 8 days and then continues once per day forever.
    
   Go to the Aerobic Oral Hygiene Kit section to learn more about effective maintenance.
    
   

   SURGICAL TREATMENT	NON SURGICAL TREATMENT	BOST
   Slow, months of treatment, many patients drop out	Slow, months of treatment, many patients drop out	Fast, one session in one day, everyone finishes
   Often very painful, takes months to heal	Can be painful, takes months to heal	Very little discomfort, heals in a few weeks
   Hygiene blocked by sutures, not aerobic	Hygiene routine complex, many products, not aerobic	Hygiene routine simple and aerobic
   Frequent antibiotic use	Frequent antibiotic use	Limited antibiotic use
   Frequent cleanings, bone, pockets may not heal	Frequent maintenance, bone, pockets may not heal	Less maintenance, bone, pockets consistently heal
   Frequent re-infections, unstable attachment, chronic inflammation	Frequent re-infections, weak attachment, chronic inflammation	Infrequent re-infection, strong attachment, little inflammation
   Very sensitive teeth, unstable bite	Sensitive Teeth, Unstable Bite	Little sensitivity, stable bite
   Often severe recession, esthetic compromise	Often severe recession, esthetic compromise	Limited recession, esthetics protected
   Often many extractions, implants to improve prognosis	Conserves more teeth, prognosis uncertain	Very few teeth lost, prognosis more certain
   Cost can be very high	Cost is low	Cost is moderate