Oh Spit! (with Salivary Diagnostics)
At Origin Dental Wellness, we have taken microscope slides of every patient’s plaque for years. This is a part of a routine dental hygiene appointment. The importance of looking at the plaque under the microscope is to determine if there are any pathogenic microorganisms swimming around that could be responsible for systemic health effects, namely cardiovascular disease. While the microscope is very helpful in determining the presence of bacteria, where it stops short is in actually diagnosing the exact bacteria present. However, we now have the advantage of utilizing a salivary diagnostic test to do just that!
Once we have seen the disease-causing microorganisms on the microscope slide, we will then discuss the option of collecting saliva into a vial. We then send the vial to a salivary diagnostics lab which will determine the presence of the particularly pathogenic five bacteria that reside in the mouth. These are the bacteria that create bleeding gums and bone loss, then lead to systemic inflammation and disease. The results give us the information we need to determine an actionable plan for better health of the mouth as well as prevention of systemic disease.