Dr. Ron McGlennen: What inspired you to pursue a career in dental hygiene, and what do you find most rewarding about it?
Danielle: I always knew I wanted to help people love their smiles, like I did after having a great dentist growing up and going through years of braces. It wasn’t until I was in college for dental hygiene that I learned about the Mouth-Body Connection®, which solidified that I was pursuing the correct career path.
Dr. Ron McGlennen: How has incorporating salivary diagnostics into your practice changed the way you approach patient care? Can you share a memorable success story?
Danielle: It is so helpful! For me, as the clinician, I can truly customize my treatment plan by having their salivary diagnostic results. For the patient, they start to truly understand the importance of and the correlation between their overall health and oral health. I have countless cases in which I had patients who didn’t understand periodontal disease and the long-term effects and weren’t sure they needed the treatment recommended. After doing the salivary testing, it helped them to accept the treatment recommendations (SRPs, irrigation and bacterial decontamination with the laser). Then, after treatment is completed and we re-test and see improvements, it makes it all so worth it. It encourages them to stay on track. For those that don’t put in the effort at home and the retest shows that they still have work to do, they believe me solely based on the lab results.
Dr. Ron McGlennen: What advice would you give to other RDHs who are hesitant to adopt salivary diagnostics in their practice?
Danielle: Just do it! Once you start to see the results, especially when reviewing retest results after scaling and root planing and/or bacterial decontamination with the laser, you won’t regret it! It gives you the confidence to urge your patients to take care of their oral and overall health, because you have real data that shows us what we are dealing with. Do it on all your patients, even your patients that present as “healthy” and just have a little bleeding, it’s always interesting to see what you find. This also helps to catch things before there is true breakdown that we can’t reverse.
Dr. Ron McGlennen: When you’re not helping patients achieve better oral health, what hobbies or activities do you enjoy in your free time?
Danielle: I love spending time with my 4-year-old daughter and my boyfriend and his 4-year-old daughter! We like getting outside, camping, hiking, and snowboarding. I also enjoy spending time with friends and family.
Dr. Ron McGlennen: What excites you most about the future of dental hygiene and how salivary diagnostics can contribute to it?
Danielle: I’m excited to see the general population have a better understanding of the oral and systemic links. Salivary testing plays a huge role in this. People love real data. Salivary testing will help us to start to be more proactive and less reactive when it comes to gum disease and preventing it, or at the very least catching it early, making it easier to maintain.
at this office has expanded my knowledge in the Mouth Body Connection, and using salivary testing, like Oral DNA to help my patients manage their oral and overall health.
- RDH Spotlight: Danielle Wisor - March 7, 2025