(PHILADELPHIA) - They came to Dr. Jon Richter's
clinic from all over the world - more than 10,000 patients, paying
about $500 each for treatment of their breath problems. They came,
they were treated, they were cured. In 1992, in Center City
Philadelphia, Dr. Richter founded the first clinical program in the
United States devoted exclusively to the diagnosis and treatment of
patients with breath odor problems. His research and success in the
causes of and treatments for breath malodor was reported at
professional conferences around the world. Now, more than 1,000
dentists around the country have followed his lead in treating
halitosis in their offices. Many of his patients say
his treatment changed their lives. It was a tremendous medical
breakthrough. What was a successful clinical treatment has now turned into a
growing enterprise.
With the success of the cure, Dr. Richter was at a
crossroad. Would he start a chain of clinics? Would he watch them
grow across America? No, that really wasn't his goal. He wanted to
make his cure for the problem that plagues millions available to
all. He wanted to develop a product and regimen that could be made
available to anyone at an affordable cost, so he took all the elements
of his successful clinical treatment and incorporated them into an
easy-to-use self-treatment kit. He then gave what he called the
ProFresh BreathCare System to 72 clinic patients to use at home. The
results were fantastic. Every one of the patients eliminated their bad
breath with the home kit.
How could he make the ProFresh BreathCare System available to
everyone? As word spread and demand grew, he found himself being forced by success
into starting a new business. He found the right people to manage it and
market the ProFresh BreathCare System, but Dr. Richter, as founder and
consultant, maintains control over products, research and
development.
Dr. Richter calls ProFresh "the next generation of oral hygiene."
He says, "Only so many people can come to the clinic and afford the
cost of professional treatment. Independent laboratory studies and
our own research prove that the ProFresh regimen and oral rinse is
highly effective in eliminating bad breath and the bacteria on the
back of the tongue which cause it. These are the same bacteria found
in plaque. Even for people who don't suffer from bad breath, ProFresh
has significant oral hygiene benefits - a healthier mouth and less
plaque. ProFresh should be a part of everyone's daily oral hygiene
regimen. Our goal is to make, at a reasonable cost, a safe and
effective oral hygiene product that reduces general oral bacteria
levels and eliminates bad breath. Consumers spend $1 billion annually
on mouthwashes and other breath products which don't attack the source
of problem. They are, for the most part, short-term cover-ups."
The sales success of ProFresh has taken Dr. Richter's techniques
and products from the clinic into the retail arena. A Yale graduate
who received his D.M.D. and Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania,
Dr. Richter continually receives offers from companies who want to
take ProFresh into retail store aisles, and from investor groups who
would like to take it public.
ProFresh has grown over the past six years, from sales of a
few hundred thousand dollars into a multi-million dollar
business.
The keystone of the Profresh BreathCare System is the unique chlorine
dioxide rinse Chlorine dioxide is a safe and powerful antibacterial
and deodorizing agent that is used in municipal water purification
systems worldwide. Dr. Richter developed and patented the formula for
its use in a mouthrinse. It is non-toxic and non-alcoholic.
Dr. Richter, a frequent lecturer at scientific conferences worldwide,
has been featured on ABC's 20/20 and Good Morning
America, and recognized in numerous national publications from
The New York Times to USA Today. He is the leading
authority on breath disorder and its control.
