testing mouth bacteria

From Correlation to Causation: The Impact of Oral Pathogens on Overall Health

Posted on by Erika Du Mond, DMD
Healthcare is undergoing significant changes. Since COVID-19, the experience for both professionals and patients has evolved. Where patients once followed directives without much personal involvement, they are now taking an active role in their health and the type of care they receive. The concept of informed consent is being realized as patients engage more in healthcare conversations and keenly evaluate practitioner philosophies and treatment options. Pathogens from the mouth travel sys...
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Why Test? Rethinking Periodontal Disease Through a Medical Lens

Posted on by Diane Larson RDH, BSDH
One of the most common questions I hear is: “How is testing going to change the therapy provided?” My answer? “It most likely isn’t.” Wait—what?! Then why bother testing at all? That’s a fair question, and one worth unpacking. Testing tools, such as MyPerioPath®, should not replace clinical diagnostics or significantly change a patient’s treatment plan. Rather, the use of a laboratory diagnostic test has the intent to confirm, but sometimes refute what you're seeing clinically. Practic...
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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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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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​Saliva Microbiome Testing: The Future of Dentistry is Here​

Posted on by Katie Lee DDS
Close your eyes. Imagine a day when patients no longer avoid or complain about coming to your dental office. You no longer have empty appointment slots or patients not showing up for appointments. Instead, patients are seeking out your expertise because perhaps you hold the key to ending their chronic suffering and their ability to achieve optimum health. You don’t have to imagine this day because it has already arrived! The landscape of dental care is undergoing a transformative shift. Dent...
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Beyond Burnout: 5 steps to lead your hygiene team toward higher job satisfaction and retention

Posted on by Jamie Dooley RDH BIS
Every practice has that one person who steps up and helps out (without being asked), enjoys learning, and boosts the morale of the whole team. Chances are it is one of your hygienists. The best RDHs to employ are those who go the extra mile; but if you don’t acknowledge their extra effort, they will move on to a setting that does.  There is a shift happening in dental hygiene, and if we aren’t prepared for it, we are going to fall so far behind that it will be challenging to catch up. As ...
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Protect Patient Health with Salivary Diagnostics

Posted on by Kathryn Gilliam
Persistent oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infections have been linked to an increased risk of oral and oropharyngeal cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection. Over 200 strains of HPV have been identified. The high-risk types, HPV-16 and HPV-18 are associated with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). The CDC reports that HPV is responsible for approximately 70% of oropharyngeal cancer in the Unit...
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Patient Expectations in the Dental Office

Posted on by Richard H. Nagelberg, DDS
Most patients seem to have reasonable expectations of the care they receive from their dental providers. It is reasonable for our patients to expect us to provide the right amount of treatment for their dental needs- no more and no less, for a reasonable fee. For the majority of patients, the dental service most often received is of a periodontal nature, such as a prophylaxis or periodontal maintenance procedure. This generally occurs two to four times a year. Restorative treatments such as ...
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