Patient Education

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...
Read More

Relapsed Periodontal Maintenance Patient with Breast Cancer

Posted on by Maria Teague RDH
Challenge: A periodontal maintenance patient of record presented past due for recare. The initial exam revealed signs of active periodontal disease indicating that the patient is no longer in periodontal remission. Medically, the patient is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Background: A 54-year-old female patient of record, with history of successful periodontal therapy, has relapsed due to missed recare and decreased oral home care. A diagnosis of breast cancer in Spring 2019 has ...
Read More

Systemic Inflammation, Elevated hs-CRP, and Oral Bacterial Pathogens Decrease After Two Years of Natural Dental Health Treatments: A Case Study

Posted on by Cass Nelson-Dooley MS, Ellie Campbell DO
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 ...
Read More

The Doctor-Hygienist Hand-Off

Posted on by Jeanette Kern DDS
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...
Read More

Be the Guide, Not the Hero

Posted on by Debbie Ozment DDS MS, NBC-HWC, ABAAHP
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 ...
Read More

How do you speak Cardiovascular Disease and Periodontal Disease to your patients?

Posted on by Barb McClatchie DDS
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...
Read More

Nobody Has Ever Done that Before

Posted on by Lee Sheldon DMD PA
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...
Read More

To Include or Not to Include Reference Lines

Posted on by Diane Larson RDH, BSDH
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 reference lines (black lines) or have them removed. This is customizable on the test order page. There are benefits to both versions. This blog will provide sample verbiage a clinician can use both when the reference lines are present and when the reference lines are removed. To serve as a...
Read More

How do you speak Risk of Cancer and Periodontal Disease with your patients?

Posted on by Michael C. Rogers, DDS
    Dr McGlennen: Cancer is a word that receives a lot of attention. There are walks, runs and bike rides every day to raise awareness of various types of cancers and billions of dollars are spent on research directed to improve diagnosis and treatments. As health care professionals, we should perform a cancer risk assessment for each patient with a goal to reduce the patient’s risk and to find cancers earlier when cure is more likely. One way that the dental office can contr...
Read More

Interview with Richard Zbaraschuk DDS

Posted on by Richard Zbaraschuk DDS
Dr. McGlennen: Tell me how you use OralDNA® salivary diagnostics. Richard Zbaraschuk, DDS: For each patient we utilize chairside microscopy. When I see mature biofilms and/or Fn (Fusobacterium nucleatum), yeast, white blood cells (WBC), or spirochetes with the aid of the microscope, or the patient has consistent bleeding upon probing, I’ll make the recommendation of OralDNA® testing.  All new patients are given the MyPerioPath® brochure so they know all the options for testing that our of...
Read More