Salivary Diagnostics

American Academy of Oral Medicine: The Past, The Present, and The Future

Posted on by Jaisri R. Thoppay DDS
On April 29-May 2, 2020, the American Academy of Oral Medicine (AAOM) celebrates its 75th annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. The theme of our meeting is “Oral Medicine: The Past, The Present, and The Future.” In 1945, “The Past,” Dr. Samuel Charles Miller founded the academy with a keen intent to integrate dental and medical issues. This inspiration has formed a strong foundation, “The Present,” that over the years, through education, collaboration, and research, has set standards for mana...
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Up Your Oral Health Game with Salivary Testing: Part 2

Posted on by Barbara Tritz RDH
The Path of Pathogen Destruction Cardiovascular Disease We know that the oral pathogens Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Tannerella forsythia (Tf), Treponema denticola (Td), and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) are directly connected to atherosclerosis.1  We know cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death and disability in the United States.  Gastrointestinal and colorectal cancers, as well as adverse pregnancy outcomes and aspiration pn...
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Up Your Oral Health Game with Salivary Testing: Part 1

Posted on by Barbara Tritz RDH
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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The Insights Provided by Salivary Testing

Posted on by Richard H. Nagelberg, DDS
Without salivary testing we have no way of knowing the cause of the periodontal disease in the patients under our care. The insights provided by salivary testing include: Identification of the causative bacteria Therapeutic endpoint Risk assessment Outcomes assessment Risk of recurrence Appropriate antibiotic Incorporating the information from the salivary bacterial test into the periodontal patient’s treatment plan enables personalized care. Forget the one-size-fit...
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Interview with Charissa Wood, RDH

Posted on by 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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Class II Generalized Periodontitis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Requesting Implant Placement

Posted on by Patricia Lugo DMD
Challenge: To establish periodontal remission by addressing the clinical manifestations of periodontal disease and altering the oral flora in order to lower the incidence of periodontal disease relapse. Bacterial management will eliminate a source of total body inflammation and increase success of implant placement. Background: The patient is a 66 year-old-male with rheumatoid arthritis, taking Lisinopril and is a potential candidate for implant to restore #19. Patient’s daily home care r...
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I Don’t Need That, We’re Already Getting Good Results

Posted on by Richard H. Nagelberg, DDS
The enemy of optimal patient care is complacency. Why would anyone settle for good results when optimal results are so easily achieved?   Put yourself in your patient’s place in the exam chair: would you then want only good enough? Patients trust their dental professionals to provide the voice in decision regarding their care. If given the choice between practicing blindly, with no information about the specific bacterial cause of their individual case of periodontal disease, and having the ...
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Identify & Destroy! Synergistic Pathogenic Biofilm Management

Posted on by Karen Davis RDH, BSDH
Synergy is the combined effect of two things being greater than either one independently. As a veteran of managing periodontal diseases, that is how I view salivary diagnostics and Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT).   With salivary diagnostics I can identify specific pathogens thriving in my patient’s biofilm, and through the process of GBT I am able to dismantle and destroy those pathogens.  This is synergy at its best. Quick review of pathogenic biofilm, then we can focus on GBT and salivary...
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How do you speak Joint/Musculoskeletal Health and Periodontal Disease to your patients?

Posted on by Jill Wade DDS, MAGD
Dr. McGlennen: Like periodontitis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory condition.  But unlike periodontitis, where the genesis of the inflammation is the complex infections in the gingival sulcus, the cause of RA is unknown.  Recent studies, however, provide insights that, in part, oral bacteria play a role in evoking an abnormal immune response that then leads to joint disease.  In a recent meta-analysis of 21 separate studies, there was a significantly increased risk of per...
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Interview with Jessica Clarke, RDH

Posted on by Jessica Clarke RDH
Dr. McGlennen: Let’s talk about how you use OralDNA® salivary diagnostics in your practice. Jessica Clarke RDH: We are currently using the OralDNA® MyPerioPath® test as standard protocol for all active non-surgical periodontal treatment in our office. Dr. McGlennen: What are the top two things you consider when selecting a patient for testing? Jessica Clarke RDH: We stick with the traditional signs of periodontal disease (PD) such as bleeding gums, and when we review the patient’s m...
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