I have been a dental hygienist for 12 years now; my back and neck pain started while I was in school. The assumption was that if you’re a dental professional, you will have neck and back pain. My first full time job out of school was taking over for a hygienist who had to retire after 20 years due to back problems caused from her profession. Every time I would go to the chiropractor, he would always remind me that dental professionals were one of his largest patient bases. That wasn’t very r...
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Salivary Diagnostics
MyoMentor®: Mouth Breathing the Missing Piece
Continuous learning is essential, especially in healthcare. Although I have been a hygienist for over 30 years, it wasn’t until two and a half years ago that my understanding of how to best help patients and colleagues drastically changed—much like it did when I was first introduced to OralDNA® Labs in 2009.
Research has long shown the strong connection between oral health and overall body health, especially through the control of oral bacterial biofilm. However, one challenging aspect is...
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Unveiling Our New and Improved OralDNA® Collection Kits!
At OralDNA® Labs, we are always looking for ways to enhance your experience by making our products more user-friendly and efficient. We're excited to announce the launch of our newly redesigned collection kits, designed to make your job easier and improve the collection process for your patients.
We’ve simplified the collection instructions, ensuring a smoother, hassle-free experience — collecting a sample has never been easier! The patient label has been reimagined, offering more space f...
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Case Study: Periodontal Disease and Cardiovascular Disease
Challenge: A new patient who has neglected dental care for 20 years with a chief complaint of broken teeth and bleeding gums appoints to address his dental concerns.
Background: A 70-year-old male patient with broken teeth and bleeding gums appoints to our office. His last dental visit was estimated to be 20 years ago. Surprisingly the patient was not experiencing dental pain. The periodontal assessment revealed generalized 4-6 mm pockets with localized 7-9 mm pockets, inflamed ...
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Dr. Benavides: “Did We Overtreat: The Value of Proactive Intervention for the Periodontal Patient.”
Disambiguating between Plaque-Induced Gingivitis and Stage II Periodontitis is an easy diagnostic feat. The difficulty increases when we attempt to finalize a diagnosis between Gingivitis and Early-Onset Periodontitis. As a reminder, according to The American Academy of Periodontology, it takes 15% of radiographic bone loss (RBL) for our patients to land at Stage I Periodontitis.
The goal of this article is to present you with two cases that could be interpreted as borderline. Our goa...
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Olympic Spirit: Achieving Gold in Healthcare
As the Olympic Games end, the world pauses to celebrate the victories and remarkable achievements of the globe’s finest athletes. The medals, the records shattered, and those unforgettable moments of triumph all deserve our admiration. However, beyond these glorious celebrations, we must also acknowledge the sheer courage it takes to try. Olympians weren’t born as perfect athletes; they started somewhere, faced countless obstacles, and transformed their failures into steppingstones toward gr...
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Diagnostic Dialogues with Dr. Neusha Najafi DDS
Dr. McGlennen: Tell me how you were introduced to OralDNA® salivary diagnostics.
Neusha Najafi DDS: Unfortunately, I was first introduced to OralDNA at a very low point in my life. I had just suffered a late term loss at 24 weeks pregnancy called PPROM. I was told that my condition was due to an infection that caused my membrane to rupture prematurely. Up until that point, I had had zero complications in my pregnancy. The doctors said the cause of the infection was unknown and th...
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Connect with OralDNA® Labs at These Prestigious Upcoming Events!
We are delighted to announce that OralDNA® Labs will be participating in several prestigious events this year, where we will highlight our advanced diagnostic tests and their critical role in assessing oral health, identifying microbial pathogens, and understanding their systemic connections. Join us at these upcoming conferences to explore our innovative solutions and experience firsthand how OralDNA Labs continues to lead in advancing patient care with cutting-edge diagnostic tools and tec...
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The Time Is Now: Halftime
“Timing is everything” was made popular by none other than the bard himself, William Shakespeare in “Julius Caesar.” How apropos!
Half the year is over. Now is the perfect time to step back and reassess. It’s also the perfect time to evaluate new opportunities.
The issue of cognitive decline is front and center in the public’s eyes for obvious reasons. I’m sure sales of Prevagen® have skyrocketed. That’s why NOW is the time to discuss this with your patients and referral sour...
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The Patient First Podcast: Dr. Bryan Laskin Interviews Diane Larson, RDH, BSDH
Dr. Bryan Laskin is a Minnesota dentist and tech entrepreneur on a mission to help solve the biggest problem in dentistry, the lack of data accessibility, through innovation, education, and standardization.
Creator of Lake Minnetonka Dental, Upgrade Dental, Digital Nitrous, OperaDDS, Dental Standards Institute, and Co-Founder of Toothapps, Dr. Laskin is also an advisor and investor to many of the most progressive healthcare companies. He is the author of the Amazon best- selling books “Th...
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