What is the Therapeutic Threshold?

In a previous blog, Salivary Diagnostics—Your Molecular X-ray, I introduced the concept of using salivary diagnostics to provide objective understanding to the clinical signs observed with periodontal disease. Once a saliva specimen is analyzed and the results released, the clinician must correlate the lab results to the clinical signs, and decide the next steps for treatment. One feature of the MyPerioPath® test report is the “Therapeutic Thresholds”, displayed as black lines overlying the ...
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Establishing New Treatment Objectives for Periodontal Disease

The principles of leadership that drive achievement have the practitioner state the objectives prior to initiating an action plan. Success is more certain and predictable, while any short falls become measurable and remedies are tied to the metrics of the initial objectives. The traditional treatment objectives for periodontal therapy have revolved around certain soft and hard tissue architectural end points and bleeding on probing. These standards have been in place for about 100 years a...
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Flu Season… Why Is This Any Different Than An Infection In The Mouth?

Is your home plagued with the flu virus? It seems to be everywhere. The young and the elderly are those most commonly affected by it; in fact there have been many reports of death associated with the 2018 flu virus. Here’s the scenario: You bring your sick loved one to the doctor, and the doctor orders laboratory test(s) typically, by a blood and urine sample. From those lab results, a determination is made if your loved one has a virus or bacterial infection. With this valuable information ...
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Managing Atherosclerotic Disease: Medical and Dental Collaboration- The New Standard of Care

Medicine and dentistry have long been aware of the connection, association, and direct links between high-risk periodontal pathogens and cardiovascular disease. Knowledge alone has a limited potential to change chronic disease outcomes unless it leads to new clinical practices. Effective and proven new protocols to identify and mitigate virulent periodontal microbes are available today. A small percentage of dentists have implemented these practices and the majority of physicians are unaware...
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