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Rob (Kentucky) on 07/21/2026: 
From the Book: Hydrogen Peroxide Medical Miracle, p. 59-60,2003 by Dr. William Campbell Douglass
They're called periodontists, but that's just a fancy name for gum doctors, the dentists who have carved a specialty out of gum diseases. You know the line they use: "Your teeth are okay, but your gums have got to go."
But a renegade doctor, Paul Keyes, says that most gum surgery is a racket and a rip-off. Doctor Keyes doesn't put it quite that bluntly, but his message is clear: "The controversy comes from people who like to do surgery and whose egos or income are threatened." His method of treating infected gums costs about $500.00. The periodontist's bill can be as high as $10,000.00. You can see why the periodontists might not like the new method.
Actually, it's not new. A reference is made to the use of hydrogen peroxide in dentistry in +1884. It was recommended for the treatment of pus pockets around the teeth, to be followed by excision of the dead tissues. One doctor commented: "The proposed treatment was all right in a high class practice where people could afford the fees; but it seemed unattainable to ordinary people, among whom one often found the worst cases." (Nothing has changed.)
+ Dentists like Dr. E.C. Kirk and Dr. A.W. Harlan began promoting H2O2 use as a subgingival antiseptic to clean pus pockets and as an enamel bleaching agent. [1]
The treatment consists of rubbing a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide into the gums. It's not quite that simple. The dentist has to do some housecleaning around your mouth, and the patient has to take the time at home for the peroxide to do the job. But the treatment is basically very simple and very effective.
Doctor Gerald Kramer, a Boston periodontist, is very critical, in fact, downright sarcastic, about the peroxide method. He says: "Keyes' technique is dramatized as the silver bullet which the public thinks it can use to cure gum disease at home in order to avoid those bad people who want to operate."
Sounds like a good idea to me. Dr. Jerry Garner, a gastroenterologist (gut doctor) from the National Institute of Health, would agree. He was told by a periodontist that all of his teeth would have to be removed. He went to Dr. Keyes and six years later still had all of his teeth.
Delores Dinapoli is another typical case. "Two years ago I went to a butcher who cut up one-fourth of my mouth. Another periodontist suggested still more surgery, but I couldn't face it. After treatment with (H2O2 ) my gums don't bleed or taste of pus. I have no pain or swelling."
Dr. Paul Cummings of Wilmington, North Carolina, is not just your ordinary dentist. He taught gum surgery at the University of North Carolina. Now he is a convert and reports a 98 percent success rate in 1,000 patients using hydrogen peroxide.
"The irony is that you can get better results without surgery, " Cummings said. "I've been using the nonsurgical technique for five years and the results are 300 percent better than I ever got with surgery."
Cummings points out that not one clinical study has ever shown periodontal surgery to be necessary. Dr. Kramer is right. You can usually avoid "those bad people who want to operate."
Rob (Kentucky) on 07/03/2026:
(c) Regular cleansing of the pockets and interproximal spaces by the patient is the essential part of the local treatment. Firstly, the spaces between the teeth must be freed of food débris by means of "floss silk, " and the gums should then be well squeezed between the thumb and the first finger, with a downward pressure on the upper teeth and an upward pressure on the lower teeth. The next step is to " irrigate the pockets. " If the irrigation can be easily carried out no special fluid is necessary and a free flushing with sterilized water would be effective. The most efficient method is to flush the pocket with peroxide of hydrogen (vols. xv), using a hypodermic syringe. The needle of the syringe is passed well into the pocket and gentle pressure exerted. The use of force is to be deprecated as it is essential that any granulation tissue that may be present should not be broken down. But as a hypodermic syringe cannot be readily manipulated by the very large majority of patients it is generally necessary to try an easier, if less efficient, means of irrigation. I find the best plan is to have the pockets wiped out with a wisp of cotton-wool dipped in hydrogen peroxide, the cotton-wool being wound round a fine broach. It is necessary to give patients very precise instructions . The broach should be of the type ordinarily used for root canal dressings. The method of winding the wool on the broach should be demonstrated. I would suggest the following plan: Spread a wisp of cotton- wool along the palmar surface of the terminal phalanx of the first finger of the left hand; place the broach on the centre of the wool; fold the cotton-wool over the broach; bring the thumb on to the broach and then run the thumb with the broach up the palmar aspect of the first finger; the fragment of wool over the point should then be turned down so as to prevent the point sticking through.
Such detailed instructions may seem hardly necessary, but experience has taught me that the success of this method of treatment depends in a large measure on the skill of the patient in twisting the wool on to the broach. The patient should be shown exactly where and how to apply the peroxide, and instructed to pay special attention to the irrigation of the spaces between the posterior teeth. The hydrogen peroxide to be used should be poured into a small receptacle, and any left unused should be thrown away and not returned to the bottle. The pockets should be cleansed at least once a day, the best time being shortly before retiring for the night.
If the patient will only carry out this method of cleansing the spaces thoroughly and regularly, a marked improvement may be confidently anticipated.
Barbara (Gilbert, Az) on 03/21/2017:
Lita (Sanford, Fl) on 09/17/2009:
