CIO Bulletin

“The mouth is the gateway to the rest of the body. Not taking care of your mouth can have a substantial impact on the rest of your health”—Russell Moon, Founder at PerioSciences

You may not think much of brushing and flossing your teeth. For you, maybe it is an everyday ritual to brush twice a day and floss once a day. Or perhaps you are a little more lax in your flossing routine and only floss a couple of times a week. Maybe you even skip a brushing session from time to time. What is the importance of these behaviors anyway?

A mouth with healthy gums, strong teeth, neutral breath, and a clean tongue often reveals good health and hygiene. Also, maintaining good oral health prevents many diseases and disorders from developing in the mouth. The mouth is one of the first places to show many symptoms, including diabetes.

Bleeding gums are one of the first symptoms of many blood-related disorders. Periodontitis is a disease that attacks gums and bones around the teeth and is commonly diagnosed alongside many heart conditions. Following good oral hygiene habits and keeping a clean and healthy mouth are directly connected to staying healthy and preventing the development of diseases.

Therefore, regular visits to your family dental clinic and taking care of your teeth and gums are vital to good oral hygiene. PerioSciences is one of the best companies in the market regarding topical treatment to address your oral and dental health.The firm is dedicated to quality research and elegant formulations. With a highly successful cosmetic company background and its team members’ years of experience with antioxidants, PerioSciences is uniquely positioned to bring innovative antioxidant technology to the burgeoning field of natural oral care. Designed and tested in the university setting, all of their products result from rigorous, scientific collaboration among scientists, biochemists, periodontists, dental and medical clinicians. PerioSciences’ oral care and oral hygiene products are based on naturally sourced, novel combinations of unique antioxidants.

Inception: Tackling oral care with topical all-natural products

In 1994, when Russell entered the skincare industry, it was focused on covering up the skin to look “pretty” instead of making skin healthy and radiant on its own. However, with the assistance of world-class research teams, he and his co-founders, Alden Pinnell and Dr. Sheldon Pinnell, developed and patented topical solutions that forever changed the way people cared for their skin by leveraging antioxidants in topical applications to prevent damage from harmful elements. Those early pioneers co-founded a company to take the novel technology to market—SkinCeuticals. Russell and his co-founders grewSkinCeuticals to $35 million before selling it to L’Oréal. Today, it’s the leading cosmeceuticalbrand globally and is likely worth over $1 billion.

Instead of basking in the glory of his success, Russell set his sights on tackling his next big and personal challenge—oral care. As an adult orthodontics patient, the scraping and stabbing of Russell’s gums left him with a great deal of pain and with a question echoed among ortho patients for generations: “How can I make my mouth feel better—and fast?” But Russell had something they didn’t—a mountain of research on the effects of topically applying antioxidants calling his name, offering a solution.

As he began researching the oral care universe, he found a familiar foe—behemoth conglomerates more interested in solving a particular problem in the mouth rather than making the mouth healthy and beautiful.

Russel developed a groundbreaking system of oral care products branded as PerioSciences after working with researchers at Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Baylor College of Dentistry, the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry, and many prominent clinicians researching many of the same antioxidants, but now topically applied in the mouth.

Russell was determined to bring what he’d learned to bear: cut out the fluff and filler used by other companies, design a novel two-part approach to oral care with natural antibacterial and antioxidant ingredients, and deliver the safest, most effective products possible.

The mouth and why PerioSciences prioritizes on it

“The mouth is the gateway to the rest of the body,” says Russell. Not taking care of your mouth can substantially impact the rest of your health. People don’t understand how they’re prematurely aging their mouths by not caring for them. It’s similar to a metabolic age being higher than your actual age if you’re out of shape. If you subject your mouth to a lifetime of inadequate treatment, it may show signs of aging like chronic bad breath, dry mouth, inflamed, bleeding, and receding gums. No one wants their smile to show their age, so PerioScinces can help.

Consumers want beauty, but they don’t want to sacrifice their health to get it. The media attention over the last ten years has educated consumers about the link between mouth ailments and unhealthy bacteria, plaque in the mouth, heart disease, and, most recently, COVID.

You can have teeth whiter than your kitchen sink and still experience all the problems Russell mentioned. But you don’t have to. Russell proved with SkinCeuticals that you could have beauty and health in the same product. Now the team is proving the same in oral care with PerioSciences.

Previously, the goal of oral care has been to reduce harmful bacteria in the mouth—kill the nasty bugs in your mouth, then your mouth is healthy. PerioSciences still use natural antibacterial ingredients to achieve that goal, but they include combination antioxidants in their products to complement and amplify your body’s biological systems to keepitself healthy.

The need to go direct to the consumers and the team that makes it possible

PerioSciences’ products were sold exclusively to the dental community. It immediately became one of the most trusted brands among dental professionals with hundreds of customers, but Russell noticed new e-commerce brands entering the market with inferior products. Their brands were compelling, but he felt their claims confused consumers. His mission was clear—he had to open PerioSciences directly to consumers. He enlisted two accomplished co-pilots, Bryon Morrison and Nicholas Henderson. They formed the PerioSciences direct-to-consumer marketing and leadership team to direct PerioSciences’ products to customers’ mouths.

PerioSciences spent the last decade educating and working with dental professionals to bring antioxidants to the oral health space. They created a cult following with customers returning to their dentists specifically to buy our products. As demand increases, Russell wants to share our solution more broadly with consumers while continuing to serve dental professionals.

Bryon is an experienced entrepreneur in his own right. He brings a decade of Omnicom agency experience with companies like AT&T, Limited Brands, Pepsico, and many other global industry leaders. He believesthat the product is amazing and the vision will make a difference. He has worked with so many brands that are indulgent or superficial, but they’re not good for you. “PerioSciences is the opposite. It truly solves dental problems that most people experience and can affect their daily lives, and does it all while providing a beautiful, healthy mouth,” he concludes.

Nicholas offers one of the most innovative perspectives on digital advertising in the space, which has allowed him to grow unique start-up brands like Hari-Mari and Poo-Pourri. Together, they believe in Russell’s vision and plan to take it to the moon.“After working at Poo-Pourri, I just liked the idea of focusing on a different orifice. Just kidding! I agree 100% with Bryon. I’m here because a product like we have here actually gives me a chance to create a movement and to feel like I’ve done something worthwhile,” says Nicholas.

Leading PerioSciences to impact oral health profoundly

Russell Moon is the Founder of PerioSciences.In 1994, he co-founded SkinCeuticals, the antioxidant-based skincare product line acquired by L’Oreal in 2005. He founded PerioSciences LLC in 2010 and further developed antioxidant technology to create oral care products with the powerful antioxidants phloretin and ferulic acid.