Uncontrolled Diabetic – Referred by Physician

Posted on December 31, 2021December 30, 2021 by Mary Kay Carroll RDH

Background: The patient is a 41-year-old female who has not been seen by a dental professional since 2008 (10 years). The patient stated her chief concern as “My doctor said my uncontrolled diabetes could be caused by my mouth.” Other medical concerns are high blood pressure and acid reflux. The home care routine consisted of manual tooth brushing only. Following the periodontal assessment, the patient was diagnosed with active, localized, chronic periodontitis due to the present s...

Interview with Dr. Chelsea Gonzales

Posted on December 24, 2021December 22, 2021 by Chelsea Gonzales DDS

Dr. McGlennen: Tell me how you use OralDNA® salivary diagnostics. Dr. Gonzales: We use OralDNA® to create a customized plan for treating our patient’s periodontal disease. We also use it to gauge the success of their periodontal treatment and revised home care regimens. Salivary diagnostics enables us to treat the patient’s whole health by tying their periodontal condition to their medical history and treating the specific bacteria that could be contributing to multiple health conditions. ...

How Do You Speak Testing? With Lisa Proffitt RDH

Posted on December 10, 2021August 14, 2024 by Lisa Proffitt, RDH, BS

Hypothetical Patient Bio: Your 57-year-old male patient of 12 years presents today with the clinical signs listed below. His updated medical history includes medication for coronary artery disease. The implant on #8 was placed 2 years ago and seems stable. However, his wife states that he has had several months of bad breath. How would you introduce therapy including MyPerioPath® to this patient? As a dental hygienist with extensive periodontal experience, the bacterial levels for th...

Interview with Diane Lindeman RDH

Posted on December 3, 2021December 1, 2021 by Diane Lindeman RDH

Dr. McGlennen: You have been using our services since 2009. Do you recall why you started using OralDNA® testing? Diane RDH: We were very excited about being able to have yet another very important tool to help our patients achieve oral/systemic health. I personally need to see results to really believe in something. I cannot tell you how amazed I have been over the years seeing the difference OralDNA® testing has made on the outcomes of periodontal therapy for our patients. Having been w...

How Do You Speak Testing? With Rosse Lustina RDH

Posted on November 12, 2021August 14, 2024 by Rosse Lustina RDH

Patient Bio: Mr. Joe Doe is 64 years old and has been a patient of record for 25 years. He complies with 3-month periodontal maintenance since his active therapy 5 years ago. His home care consists of brushing with an electric toothbrush in the evening and flossing 5x/week. He takes a blood pressure medication and several for cholesterol. His deceased father had cardiac bypass surgery at age 67. How would you introduce therapy including MyPerioPath® to this patient? First, following t...

How Do You Speak Testing? With Donna Shook RDH

Posted on October 29, 2021August 14, 2024 by Donna Shook RDH

Patient Bio: New patient is a 66-year-old female. Per her records, her last active periodontal therapy was over 10 years ago. Her previous dentist just retired, and she is looking for a new dental home. Her home care consists of brushing twice a day with occasional flossing. The patient started smoking at age 18 and currently smokes 1 pack per day. She has expressed an interest in quitting. Medical history includes osteoporosis. How would you introduce therapy including MyPe...

4 Steps to Put Your Practice at the Forefront of Prevention

Posted on October 15, 2021October 21, 2021 by Geralyn Beers RDH BS FAAOSH

How many patients a day do you see with chronic disease or complicated medical histories? Sadly, obesity, diabetes, cancer, autoimmune and heart disease are all too common. What if there was a simple way to utilize the power of your hygiene department to not only improve the physical health of your patients but the financial health of your practice? As dental professionals, we can help our patients detect, manage, and even avoid these and other health risks. We understand the re...

Interview with Kristen King RDH

Posted on October 1, 2021October 12, 2021 by Kristen King BSDH

Dr. McGlennen: Tell our readers how you use OralDNA® salivary diagnostics. Kristen RDH: We recommend OralDNA® saliva testing on all patients that have bleeding/inflammation regardless of probe depths. We utilize MyPerioPath® for these patients to customize treatment plans and target the cause of the inflammation. We utilize a post MyPerioPath® test, called MyPerioProgress®, to measure the effectiveness of the therapy we provided. It is awesome to use an approach where we can have objective ...

Part 2: Inflammation & “Nutrients”

Posted on September 24, 2021September 22, 2021 by Katy Cameron

In everything we do, we are sending a message to our body to heal or to cause damage. A cause of inflammation and disease is nutritional deficiencies and the direct effect on our gene expression. Let’s broaden our view on what nutrients are. A nutrient could be the vitamins and minerals you get from a salad, or the nutritional movement you got from a walk through the woods a.k.a. forest bathing, or the quality night’s sleep you just had because you’ve been destressing with a regular meditation p...

Part 1: Inflammation and “Nutrients”

Posted on September 17, 2021September 15, 2021 by Katy Cameron

Recently, someone I knew died of a sudden heart attack. He was 41 with a wife and three kids. He had a bigger-than-life personality and was someone who everyone was happy to know. It’s sad and he will be missed. He wasn’t a patient of mine and I didn’t know him well enough to know all his intimate life details. I was, however, able to make some general observations. He was overweight, especially around the middle, he lost his dad less than a year ago, his gums were usually red, and his teeth...