CATEGORY 86 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST ORAL HEALTH With the formulation finalised, the branding and marketing taking shape, and production underway, the next phase of the PerioGold® journey moved into a more disciplined and accountable space. What began as an intuitive, curiositydriven process now evolved into another aspect of alignment. Alignment with the understanding that if we were genuinely creating something meaningful, we also had an opportunity to discover just how impactful that something might be. One question crystallised above all others: could our botanical oral gel demonstrate measurable biological relevance when viewed through a scientific lens? We needed to ask ourselves honestly: could PerioGold® stand up to scrutiny? We believed it could. The confidence we had in the formulation wasn’t born from hope or marketing. It came from the extensive body of research we had drawn upon when selecting each ingredient and building the formulation itself. Yet belief and evidence are not the same thing. We are not chemists, nor are we manufacturers by trade. We were simply two driven individuals who built something from the ground up, guided by our industry experience, research, curiosity, and a desire to create something impactful. Instinct alone only takes you so far; if we were going to ask clinicians and patients to place their trust in PerioGold®, then we owed it to them and to ourselves to explore what the science actually had to say. That decision marked the beginning of a new chapter. PerioGold® – The homegrown story behind the product part II: The research By Mr Brett Chalklin & A/Prof Ramesh Balasubramaniam OAM For us, research matters. The existing evidence surrounding the ingredients selected for PerioGold® Gel pointed us toward the possibility that we had created something with genuine relevance and value in treating a range of oral conditions. Creating an opportunity to generate data around the finished formulation itself was in alignment with our intention. Having evidence of efficacy matters for reasons beyond credibility. It provides clinicians with greater confidence; knowing they can trust the science, it offers patients a choice and deeper understanding of how a product may support their oral health. Most importantly, it creates a foundation for meaningful clinical conversations. We approached a world renowned academic and researcher, Professor Omar Kujan who had extensive expertise in this field. After discussing our intentions, he and his team took the necessary time to develop the study framework, documentation, and research parameters. Eventually, everything aligned; the agreement finalised, the study design established, and the research commenced. The focus would be oxidative stress assessed using cell lines that mimicked oral mucositis which is an environment characterised by significant oxidative burden and cellular stress. This study protocol immediately resonated with us. Oxidative stress is not a fringe concept in oral health. It sits at the centre of many inflammatory processes. Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been associated with tissue breakdown, inflammatory cascades, delayed healing, and broader challenges in maintaining oral health. To see evidence that PerioGold® Gel could actively engage with this pathway, not merely in theory, but in a measurable and reproducible manner, was one of the first tangible confirmations that we had been moving in the right direction. A growing body of research exists around locally delivered antioxidant gels in oral health, and now we had contributed something meaningful in this space too. The study identified PerioGold® as a commercially available curcumin-based product that demonstrated protective efficacy against oral mucositis, with results showing a significant reduction in ROS production across heterogeneous cell lines. These findings enable a broader conversation to be had. They invite us to look beyond conventional thinking and explore what can be achieved when curiosity, research, and innovation come together in the pursuit of better oral health outcomes. There is an abundance of research surrounding individual botanical compounds; including those used in PerioGold® Gel. Curcumin, aloe vera, elderberry and numerous others each possess their own growing body of evidence relating to inflammation, microbial balance, oxidative stress, and tissue support. What remains less common, however, is research evaluating complete botanical formulations as finished products used in real-world settings. That evidence base is still being built. In some small way, we had now contributed to it. More than anything, that realisation reinforced the decision we had made to go down this path, one that felt both bold and necessary. Not to manufacture credibility, nor to overstate what the data could tell us. Simply to ask the right questions and pursue the answers with integrity. Can modulating oxidative stress play a meaningful role in supporting oral health? Can a botanical formulation achieve the consistency, reproducibility, and quality standards expected of modern therapeutic products? And can something like PerioGold® provide individuals with greater choice in how they care for their oral health, without compromising scientific integrity? We still don’t have all the answers. But we have a foundation built on the right intentions, aligned with the right values and grounded in a genuine belief that individuals deserve broader choice in how they care for their oral health. That has always been the point. Not to prove something, but to build something worthwhile, and then do the work required to ensure it reaches the individuals it can impact. u A/Prof Ramesh Balasubramaniam Brett Chalklin
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTc3NDk3Mw==