Salivary Diagnostics: The Frontier Uniting Medical and Dental Professionals

Your saliva has a story to tell about your health. The oral microbiome can alter the balance between health and disease, locally and systemically. Within the oral cavity, bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, and viruses may all be found, each having a particular role, but strongly interacting with each other and with the host, in sickness or in health. Early diagnosis of disease, quantification of disease, and prognosis of the treatment are vital steps in controlling and preventing the diseas...
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The At-Home Collection Kit

The previous blogs “Is the Medical Model Right for Your Practice?” Part 1 and Part 2 by Dr. Michael Goldberg are an excellent opportunity to highlight a useful feature OralDNA® Labs has added to our client resources. The At-Home Collection Kit is an opportunity for you to explore telehealth, or at a minimum provide added convenience for your patients who may need to travel distances to receive your higher quality of care. This resource allows you to ship a collection kit direct to your patient’s...
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Article Overview with OralDNA

Have you ever finished reading an article and thought to yourself “What?!”. In this new series of blogs/vlogs, Dr. Ronald McGlennen will review articles of relevance to help answer your questions and offer his additional expertise on the topic. If you come across an article that you would like Dr. McGlennen’s insight on, please contact info@trendsinsalivarytesting.com or click here. https://youtu.be/wtulmQ9ubAE
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Periodontal Inflammation Primes the Systemic Innate Immune Response

This week, Dr. Ronald McGlennen - President & Medical Director of OralDNA® Labs provides a review of the recently published article "Periodontal Inflammation Primes the Systemic Innate Immune Response” written by N. Fine, J.W. Chadwick, C. Sun, K.K. Parbhaker, N. Khoury, A. Barbour, M. Golberg, H.C. Tenebaum, and M. Glogauer. This article appears in the Journal of Dental Research, October 2020. The complete article can be accessed here. Enjoy the VLOG and please feel free to share any...
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The Necessity of Two Patient Specific Identifiers

All healthcare industries strive for safety and quality control, especially when handling patient information. With the OralDNA® ordering process, some may wonder why it is so important to have two matching patient specific identifiers on the OralDNA® specimen and test requisition. In this week’s blog, we will share with you the importance of patient specific identifiers and how you can accurately identify your patients’ samples. According to the College of American Pathologists (CAP) guidel...
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The Insights Provided by Salivary Testing

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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Periodontal Disease, Perio Pathogens & Rocket Science

Risk factors for heart attack include; age, tobacco, high blood pressure, lipid profile, diabetes, family history of heart attack, lack of physical activity, obesity, stress, illicit drug use, history of preeclampsia, history of autoimmune condition such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis and so on and so on. Why have all these risk factors been identified? Because it is better to prevent a heart attack than it is to have one. Risk factor identification and modification is the cornerstone of p...
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Salivary Diagnostics: Your Molecular X-Ray

According to Merriam-Webster, one of the definitions of technology is a manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge. This definition rings true for the introduction of clinical laboratory testing for the health care professions. It was noted in research by the NIH, “…it was not until 1896 that the first clinical laboratory was opened, a twelve-foot-by-twelve-foot room equipped at a cost of $50 at Johns Hopkins Hospital.”1 So for over a century, ...
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My Visit to OralDNA® Labs

Have you ever wondered what happens to your patient’s saliva sample once it arrives at OralDNA® Labs?  Many PDS®-supported offices have been using OralDNA® Labs to analyze the saliva of their patients, relative to the patient’s periodontal infection.  This service gives them more information about the types and severity of a patient’s infection, which is the cause of periodontitis.  Additionally, however, it tells us something about the bacterial load and a patient’s inflammatory response, w...
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OraRisk® Caries: Identifying Bacteria for Risk Assessment

Dental caries is defined as the progressive destruction of a tooth and is considered a major health issue in both adolescents and adults, in which reportedly 90% of the population is affected1.  Cavities are formed when acid erodes the hard tissues of the teeth (enamel, dentin and cementum). Acid is produced in the mouth when certain bacteria, such as Streptococcus mutans, ferment sugars into acid.  For decades, S. mutans was believed to be the main bacteria involved in caries initiation ...
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