Perio maintenance

Perio maintenance is the recurring hygiene appointment for a patient who has been treated for periodontal disease, typically involving deeper cleaning below the gumline than a standard prophylaxis, and scheduled more frequently, commonly every three to four months rather than the standard six-month interval. It is a distinct billing code and a distinct clinical protocol from a routine cleaning, not simply a more thorough version of the same visit.

Perio maintenance patients are also some of the most valuable recurring patients in a hygiene department, both because the more frequent interval means more visits per year and because a patient actively managing periodontal disease has an ongoing, real clinical need for the appointments they're being scheduled for: reappointment compliance in this population tends to matter enormously for long-term outcomes, not just for the schedule.

A hygiene department reviewing its profitability should look at perio maintenance as its own category rather than folding it into general hygiene production, since the interval, the time allotted per visit, and the fee should all be calibrated specifically to this type of appointment rather than treated identically to a standard six-month cleaning.