AADP: Sharing a Better Way in Dentistry #Launch2020

It’s a new decade and 2020 has a great energy boosting ring to it! Launch your new dental decade and year of 2020 with an inspirational space themed meeting in Orlando with the American Academy of Dental Practice (AADP) March 4-7. I went to my first AADP meeting because I heard it was one of the best kept secrets in dentistry. Intrigued, I had to check it out and AADP did not disappoint. Whatever it is that I need at that point in my life, I find it at AADP either through the wonderful...
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Up Your Oral Health Game with Salivary Testing: Part 1

Aren’t you tired of the same old drill and fill, pumice-pushing lecture about tooth decay, flossing, and bleeding gums?  Yet, patients still come back infected and full of plaque.  All our great suggestions are for naught.  We keep lecturing, hoping for different results.  It becomes discouraging and frustrating for our patients and leads to burnout and career changes for us.  On top of that - despite all of our efforts, all of our breath, and all of our floss - periodontal disease is still ...
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Interview with Charissa Wood, RDH

Dr. McGlennen: Tell me how you use OralDNA® salivary diagnostics. Charissa Wood RDH: At Atlanta Dental Spa, we utilize OralDNA® salivary diagnostics to help our patients achieve optimal oral health. We take a complete health approach to our patients’ care and salivary diagnostics helps us assess our patients’ genetic predispositions to inflammation as well as the perio-pathogen load levels. OralDNA® lab reports allow us to truly tailor patient care based off the information we get from test...
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Systemic Inflammation, Elevated hs-CRP, and Oral Bacterial Pathogens Decrease After Two Years of Natural Dental Health Treatments: A Case Study

Heart Disease Begins in the Mouth High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is the most clear, quantifiable, and readily accessible marker of the oral-systemic connection. We present a case study of an otherwise healthy 62-year-old woman with elevated hs-CRP who had abundant numbers of pathogenic oral bacteria. A natural dental health treatment over two years lowered hs-CRP and lowered oral pathogens. Given the links between oral disease, inflammation, and heart disease, it is wise to ...
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The Doctor-Hygienist Hand-Off

As a formerly practicing hygienist and now a dentist, I am respectfully sensitive to the time constraints and importance of the information exchange during a periodic exam in the hygienist’s treatment room. My team and I developed, practice, and teach this exchange for thoroughness, patient benefit, and emphasis of our professionalism. When the doctor enters the hygienist’s treatment room, the hygienist is to highlight and summarize her findings in the most efficient and effective verbiag...
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Be the Guide, Not the Hero

We care deeply for our patient family and are oral-systemic experts.  Because we have invested enormous amounts of time and money in quality education, we know best what people need for strong teeth and a long health span.  Our patients appreciate this and always listen intently to what we tell them they need to do.  They happily reach into their wallets and hand us their credit card.  Right? In my 34 years of clinical experience: Wrong!  People buy what they want, not necessarily what they ...
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How do you speak Cardiovascular Disease and Periodontal Disease to your patients?

Dr. McGlennen: There is consensus within the medical and dental community that periodontal bacteria contribute to the initiation, progression and prognosis of cardiovascular disease. From key studies, including prospective, retrospective and even meta-analysis studies, persons with untreated periodontal infections have up to a 20% increase in their risk of coronary vascular disease.1 The multiple of risk for stroke (1.74-2.85 fold) and peripheral vascular disease (1.41-2.27 fold) is equal or...
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Nobody Has Ever Done that Before

In this era of trying to differentiate yourself from the provider down the street, a simple solution is incorporating OralDNA® salivary testing services.  Imagine a patient who has had periodontal disease and has seen several dentists and periodontists in the past.  They may have been told they have pockets, but what do pockets mean to a patient?  Perhaps a lot, but only if they have been properly educated about the consequences of a pocket deepening. Let’s look at this from another persp...
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Traditional Periodontal Disease Case Study

Challenge: Patient with extremely limited history of dental care presents seeking dental wellness. Although patient is anxious, she is highly motivated to create a healthier dental foundation. Background:  A 33-year-old woman with history of acid reflux, seasonal allergies and anemia is seeking to better her dental care. The patient has limited recollection of any dental care in her life, even childhood. The patient’s home care consists of manual tooth brushing 1-2 times per day with the ...
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To Threshold or Not to Threshold

OralDNA® providers frequently comment that some patients will say “I am below those black lines so I must be okay.” To help overcome this obstacle, the MyPerioPath® results have an option to display the threshold lines (black lines) or have them removed. There are benefits to both versions. This blog will provide sample verbiage a clinician can use both when the thresholds are present and when the thresholds are removed. To serve as a refresher and from a previous blog “What is the Therap...
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