Oral DNA Tests For Periodontal Disease and HPV

By Shila Yazdani, DDS

Revive Neuromuscular Aesthetic Dentistry

. http://www.revivemetoday.com/

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Oral DNA Tests For Periodontal Disease and HPV

For the past 50 years, diagnosis of periodontal disease has been based on clinical signs such as bone loss, inflammation and measurement of gingival detachments, (pocket depths and gingival recessions). However, these are all measures of existing damage due to an ongoing infection.

Dentistry now has more advanced diagnostic tests. The MyPerioID test allows clinicians to accurately detect the patient's genetic susceptibility to periodontal disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

This allows clinicians to identify those patients that are at a greater risk for periodontal disease, and other infections, and customize a more effective treatment plan for prevention.

The MyPerioPath test analyzes the patient's saliva for quantities and types of pathogenic bacteria responsible for gum infection. To treat the infection a more customized treatment is then sought.

Both of these tests are done by simply collecting the patient's saliva and sending it to a lab for analysis. The results are received within 4-5 business days, and upon review of the results a more comprehensive risk assessment and a more personalized treatment is devised to help the patient achieve not only a more successful treatment outcome, but also one that can be accurately measured though re-testing.

Another very important oral DNA test is OraRisk HPV, which helps detect and identify the oral HPV virus, which is one of the most common groups of viruses in the world affecting 20 million people in the United States alone with six million new cases happening each year.

Oral HPV is primarily in the oropharyngeal complex. Certain types of this virus are found to be a serious risk factor for oral cancer. The good news is that these can be detected early through a simple DNA test using the patient's saliva sample. The clinician is then able to determine an appropriate referral and monitoring program.

Saliva has presented as a perfect method of exploring health and disease detection due to its accessibility and noninvasive nature as well as its content of disease biomarkers that can be analyzed and interpreted to help patients be prepared well in advance. In the next article, additional tests will be discussed, as will their applications in a dental and medical setting.