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...

Periodontal Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis – Controlling Two Birds with One Stone?

Posted on September 10, 2021September 9, 2021 by Pete Williams

Challenge: Our case study represents an example of the emerging evidence from interventional and, more recently, animal studies showing how seemingly unrelated diseases such as periodontal disease and rheumatoid arthritis can be related through similar genetic, biological, and clinically consistent mechanisms.1,2,3,4 Background: The initial medical assessment for a 57-year-old female diagnosed with palindromic rheumatoid arthritis was conducted at our functional medicine clinic....

Patient with Dental Pain, Periodontal Disease & High Blood Pressure

Posted on September 3, 2021September 7, 2021 by Ashley Spooner DDS

Challenge: To address the dental concerns to resolve patient’s dental pain. To educate the patient on the connection between dental health and overall health. Background: The patient is a 37-year-old male who presented with a dental pain emergency. The home care is poor and patient has history of only seeking dental care for emergencies. Medically, the patient has hypothyroidism, hypertension, high cholesterol, and significant difficulty breathing while asleep. The blood pressure reading ...

A Physician’s Treasure Trove

Posted on August 6, 2021August 2, 2021 by Ellie Campbell DO

My journey into oral systemic health began when a very dear patient suffered a fatal stroke. Following the best evidence-based medical practices was not enough, so I studied hard to learn more. That journey led me to a treasure trove of knowledge from Bradley Bale MD and Amy Doneen DNP, ARNP, founders of the BaleDoneen Method®, and then to the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health. More than ever, I can emphatically pronounce that NO cardiovascular prevention program is complete without ...

How Do you Speak Testing? With Becky Comstedt RDH

Posted on July 30, 2021August 14, 2024 by Becky Comstedt RDH, BS

“How Do You Speak Testing” provides insight into how to talk with your patients about optimal care. The guest author has been given a fictitious patient with background information and clinical signs along with a randomly selected test result(s). The guest author will share their expertise in communicating OralDNA® Labs testing with patients. Hypothetical Patient Bio: An 82-year-old female patient has been seeing you for periodontal maintenance. She has cardiovascular disease, takes lisinopri...

Oral Health and Leaky Gut: The Surprising Connections

Posted on July 23, 2021July 12, 2021 by Karen Thomas MSc, CNS®, LN, ND, RDH BS, FDN-P, CHHC

Helping dental professionals recognize the interconnectedness between oral health, the gastrointestinal (GI) system, and overall wellness is my passion. As dental clinicians, it’s imperative to understand these connections because what happens in the mouth doesn’t stay in the mouth. Numerous health issues can be detected by educated and observant dental professionals—thus alerting patients to avoidable negative health consequences down the road. Does bad oral health affect the rest of the...