{"id":28012,"date":"2025-06-27T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/?p=28012"},"modified":"2025-06-19T11:56:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T16:56:24","slug":"flying-blind-a-wake-up-call-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/2025\/06\/27\/flying-blind-a-wake-up-call-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying Blind: A Wake-Up Call – Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When I say \u201cFlying Blind\u201d no, I\u2019m not talking about the air-control issues at Newark Airport. I\u2019m talking about how we practice oral health care.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having taught in two universities, I have a pretty good idea of the curriculum dentists and hygienists receive. \u201cBasic Sciences\u201d dominate those early years: microbiology, immunology, physiology, anatomy, and pharmacology. Why? Because understanding the <\/span>why <\/span><\/i>behind disease matters.<\/span><\/p>\n

So here\u2019s the real question: <\/span>Why are those sciences all but abandoned once we\u2019re in practice?<\/b><\/p>\n

When the Formula Works<\/b><\/h3>\n

I recently visited yet another physician\u2014my growing medical entourage now rivals a baseball team. This time, the doctor was younger than my own kids (humbling, yes). But what impressed me wasn\u2019t his age\u2014it was his process.<\/span><\/p>\n

He introduced himself, asked smart questions, performed an actual exam, and reviewed my chart. Then, with impressive clarity, he walked me through the long-term progression of what was now officially diagnosed as gout. Yep. Me. Gout.<\/span><\/p>\n

He even laid out a plan that included medications and diet adjustments.<\/span><\/p>\n

But most impressively? He followed the full 9-step diagnostic formula we were all taught in dental and hygiene school:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
      \n
    1. Chief Complaint<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. History of Present Illness<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Past Medical History<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Medications & Allergies<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Review of Systems<\/span><\/li>\n
    6. Physical Examination<\/span><\/li>\n
    7. Diagnostic Data<\/span><\/li>\n
    8. Assessment<\/span><\/li>\n
    9. Plan<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      It was a clinic in clinical thinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Why Don\u2019t We Dig Deeper?<\/b><\/h3>\n

      Let\u2019s be honest: because there\u2019s little financial incentive to spend extra time gathering data or solving puzzles. Most dental and medical practices still operate in a system where revenue comes from what you <\/span>do<\/span><\/i>\u2014not what you <\/span>think<\/span><\/i>. Diagnostics and discovery take a back seat to drilling and billing.<\/span><\/p>\n

      But should they?<\/span><\/p>\n

      We rightly expect rheumatologists to be master diagnosticians\u2014they don\u2019t do procedures, they solve puzzles. But we deal with chronic inflammatory diseases every single day in dentistry. <\/span>Why aren\u2019t we approaching them with the same level of scientific rigor?<\/b><\/p>\n

      What If We Practiced Like Medical Detectives?<\/b><\/h3>\n

      What if every periodontal consult included salivary analysis? What if every high-risk caries patient received a full microbial workup before we started placing restorations? Would it change our treatment plans? Our outcomes? Our credibility?<\/span><\/p>\n

      Absolutely.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Diagnostics don\u2019t replace clinical skill\u2014they amplify it. They let us tailor treatment to the patient, not just to the pocketbook. They help us shift from a reactive model to a <\/span>predictive, preventive, and personalized<\/b> approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

      So here\u2019s the challenge: stop flying blind.<\/span><\/p>\n

      As Dr. Goldberg so clearly states: <\/span>we can\u2019t afford to keep flying blind.<\/b>
      \n<\/b>Patients deserve more than routine\u2014they deserve precision. Salivary diagnostics is a powerful step in that direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Stay tuned for <\/span>Part 2<\/b>, where Dr. Goldberg shifts the spotlight to what happens <\/span>after<\/span><\/i> the diagnosis\u2014and how practices can build lasting value by better supporting patients beyond the chair.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Click here<\/span><\/a> to learn more about how Dr Goldberg\/Practice Perfect Solutions can benefit your practice of true medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n

      \"Join<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      When I say \u201cFlying Blind\u201d no, I\u2019m not talking about the air-control issues at Newark Airport. I\u2019m 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. \u201cBasic Sciences\u201d dominate those early years: microbiology, immunology, physiology, anatomy, and pharmacology. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":24452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[141,59,110],"tags":[12,13,106,230,17,112,76,152,270,3,46,95,245],"class_list":["post-28012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medical-model","category-practice-management","category-salivary-diagnostics","tag-dental-bacterial-test","tag-dental-saliva-test","tag-diagnostic-tools","tag-how-do-you-speak","tag-oral-systemic-connection","tag-patient-education","tag-periodontal-disease","tag-practice-management","tag-root-cause","tag-salivary-diagnostics","tag-salivary-testing","tag-systemic-inflammation","tag-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PPS_Logo_May-2024-500px.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7W16z-7hO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28012"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28012"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28036,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28012\/revisions\/28036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}