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Did you know that one out of five patients in your dental practice suffers from
cold sores? So how can you help your patients shorten the duration of symptoms
and the course of infection of cold sores?
The discomfort of a cold sore outbreak begins when a cold sore virus becomes
active, which can occur in reaction to the sun, stress, dry lips, or a cold.
For a cold sore to form, the virus must reproduce. The virus is usually
dormant in the ganglia of the trigeminal nerve. Reactivation of the virus is
associated with certain triggers. Once it is reactivated, the virus travels
down the neuron to the dermal epidermal junction of the skin, and attaches
to healthy cells. Specifically, the viral envelope fuses with the cell
membrane allowing viral DNA to enter the cell. The viral DNA migrates to the
nucleus where viral replication occurs. Once the virus enters the cell, the
cell dies. After replication of viral protein and reassembly within the cell
the viron emerges both through the cell membrane where it gains the envelope
that allows it to remain viable outside the cell. The viron is then able to
attach to another cell membrane and repeat the cycle. This cycle continues
until the body's own immune system eventually clears the infection.
There are a number of over-the-counter products on the market available to treat
your patients' cold sores. Typically, these are designed to act as analgesics,
skin protectants, sunscreens or disinfectants. None of them have been proven
and approved by the FDA to shorten healing time. Only Abreva is proven to shorten
healing time with 10% docosanol. It has been shown in laboratory studies to work
by protecting the healthy lip cells from a virus attack, strengthening the cell
membrane. Docosanol has a unique mode of action. It is incorporated in the cell
membrane and inhibits the ability of the HSV envelope to fuse with the cell
membrane effectively blocking viral entry into the cell. It's clinically proven
to reduce healing time when used at the onset of symptoms.
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