Periostat, distributed by Alliance Pharmaceuticals, is one of the latest products to be introduced to the dental market for the treatment of chronic periodontitis.

It is an orally administered tablet containing a formulation of 23.08 mg doxycycline hyclate. Designed to be taken twice a day as an adjunct to scaling and root planning (SRP), Periostat increases clinical attachment level gain and reduces probing depths in patients with chronic periodontitis.

The duration of treatment with Periostat, a prescription only medicine, will depend on the individual case but is recommended to be at least three months, and its use is approved for up to nine months to suppress the destructive collagenase enzymes and help stabilise the periodontium.

Periostat is not intended to eliminate the need for clinical interventions or procedures that reduce the bacterial load in the periodontal pocket. It is an adjunctive therapy, and is the only approved product formulated specifically to suppress the tissue destroying enzymes primarily responsible for the breakdown of the periodontium.

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