Flying Blind: A Wake-Up Call – Part One

Posted on by Michael Goldberg DMD
When I say “Flying Blind” no, I’m not talking about the air-control issues at Newark Airport. I’m talking about how we practice oral health care. Having taught in two universities, I have a pretty good idea of the curriculum dentists and hygienists receive. “Basic Sciences” dominate those early years: microbiology, immunology, physiology, anatomy, and pharmacology. Why? Because understanding the why behind disease matters. So here’s the real question: Why are those sciences all but aba...
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Saving Teeth, Avoiding Implants: Dr. Lee Sheldon’s Strategic Approach to Aggressive Periodontitis

Posted on by Lee Sheldon DMD PA
When a 41-year-old woman came into Dr. Lee Sheldon’s office complaining of loose teeth and pain on both sides of her mouth, many would have jumped straight to extractions and implants. But Dr. Sheldon took a different approach: practical, conservative, and rooted in restoring function—not just filling spaces. “This is not just about saving a tooth,” says Dr. Sheldon. “It’s about reversing the stresses—bacterial, occlusal—and giving her back long-term function without implants.” Upon cl...
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An Imbalanced Oral Microbiome Can Cause Throat Cancer, But You Can Prevent It

Posted on by Cass Nelson-Dooley MS
Every April, there is a campaign to bring awareness to head and neck cancers. What exactly are head and neck cancers? Head and neck cancers affect the mouth, throat, sinuses and nose, salivary glands, or larynx (the voice box). Their hallmark is that they involve squamous cells, which line the mouth, throat, and sinuses—those wet, mucous-rich surfaces. How do head and neck cancers take hold? Cancer cells are damaged cells that can live forever. Cancer requires one or more of these proce...
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Learn Periodontal Precision with Dr. Doug Thompson – Virtual Access Now Available!

Posted on by Doug Thompson DDS
We’re thrilled to share an exciting course now available by the Kois Center, providing a groundbreaking step forward in dental hygiene education: The Digital Precision Periodontal Medicine & the Hygienist: A Critical Role for Maximum Health course is now live! This lecture series is now available both in-person (at the Kois Center in Seattle, WA) and virtually, allowing anyone, anywhere, access to resources that can expand their knowledge and transform their clinical practice. Our new...
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Oral Care Probiotics and Periodontal Health: A Clinical Case Study

Posted on by Dr. Rachelle Beattie
How ProBiora Probiotics Turned Around a Severe Periodontal Case Periodontal disease can be notoriously difficult to treat, especially when it persists despite traditional and advanced therapies. This case study highlights how oral care probiotics, specifically ProBiora products, helped resolve a severe periodontal condition when other traditional methods failed. Patient Background A 52-year-old patient presented with a history of moderate to severe chronic periodontitis. Symptoms included b...
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Throwback: Side Effects Support LLC

Posted on by Jill Meyer-Lippert RDH
As I started my first job in dentistry, my mother received a breast cancer diagnosis and suffered horribly with oral side effects from chemotherapy. Her pain from severe dry mouth and mouth sores (oral mucositis) was dismissed by her oncology team as “just part of treatments.” She received no guidance on how to prevent or reduce her discomfort and there were no oral care strategies implemented to prevent long-term damage to her dental health. Through questioning other cancer survivors, I le...
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Unlock the Power of Saliva: Mastering Salivary Testing Comes to Centennial, CO!

Posted on by Katie Lee DDS
Are you ready to take your dental practice to the next level? If you’ve been looking to incorporate salivary diagnostics into your clinical offerings but don’t know where to start—or how to interpret the results—then this course is for you. Join Dr. Katie Lee at the new Collective Education Society on Friday, July 11, 2025, for Mastering Salivary Testing, an immersive in-person course led by Dr. Emily Stein, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Primal Health LLC. Dr. Stein’s expertise in microbio...
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Interview with Dr. Geoffrey Sharpe

Posted on by Geoffrey Sharpe BDS MFDS RCPS MSc MRD Perio RCSEd
Dr. Ron McGlennen: How were you introduced to OralDNA® salivary diagnostics, and what motivated you to incorporate it into your practice? Dr. Geoffrey Sharpe: As a periodontist, I had been aware of salivary diagnostic testing for some time. However, this subject was not widely taught at dental schools, even at the postgraduate level. A number of colleagues in my network were strong advocates of the tests available from OralDNA® Labs and I became curious to explore their potential in my sp...
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Beyond the Probe: How OralDNA Testing Transformed Our Protocols and Outcomes

Posted on by Jonathan Evans
For decades, we've understood that periodontal disease is bacterial in origin, yet many of our treatment strategies remained nonspecific. We scaled, we cleaned, we hoped for the best. OralDNA® testing changed that for us - it brought specificity, clarity, and purpose to our protocols.  At our practice, every periodontal patient and every medically high-risk patient receives an OralDNA® MyPerioPath as a baseline test. This includes individuals with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or auto...
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Throwback: Salivary Diagnostics for Gum Disease and Oral Cancer Risk Assessment

Posted on by Idelle S. Brand DDS, ND
Clinical laboratory testing is a common practice for the medical professional. DNA testing, including genetic testing, has led to healthier patients. Cross over to dentistry, and let’s review 2 examples of what’s available. Presently, in my office, we perform MyPerioID® IL-6, a test for the genetic marker interleukin 6 (IL-6) to screen for genetic risk of periodontal disease and a viral DNA test for the human papilloma virus (HPV) to screen for risk of oral cancer.  The collection is relativ...
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