We are entering the age of precision dentistry, which means personalizing patient care through learning each person’s unique oral microbiome. There are 700+ unique bacterial species — both good and bad — that have been identified as part of the oral microbiome, and each of us have these in different proportions. Aside from determining a person’s susceptibility to oral conditions like cavities, gum disease, and bad breath, it is well known that the oral microbiome impacts overall health, with concrete evidence linking an abundance of specific mouth bacteria to certain diseases including: Salivary oral microbiome testing enables personalized treatment recommendations to help combat each patient’s bad bacteria, and nurture their good bacteria. This means a more tailored dental hygiene program, diet and lifestyle insights, and the targeted use of specific probiotics. We use salivary testing for three types of patients: The saliva sample takes less than a minute to collect and can be done at the start of a cleaning appointment.
