Medicine has come a long way in the last couple of decades. Once such advancement is with DNA. What was once a mystery to us is gradually opening the doors on its secrets and allowing us to soar to new heights of understanding. Our increased knowledge of these building blocks of life enable us to deliver new treatments for a range of conditions, including periodontal disease. One such treatment is oral DNA testing.
Periodontal disease is the most significant challenge to our oral health there currently is. With the vast majority of people having some form of the condition, keeping it under control is a constant battle. One significant leap forward in treatment is fast diagnosis. The ability to quickly and accurately diagnose periodontal disease allows us to address it before it begins to do damage.
Did you know there are over 600 different strains of bacteria in the human mouth at any one time? Or that there are 13 known strains of pathogen that cause gum disease? Knowing exactly what is present within the mouth and how many of each are there helps us plan an effective oral health regimen that can prevent rather than treat disease.
Typically, periodontal disease can take many months or years to become symptomatic. In that time is can take hold and do damage. Oral DNA testing changes all that.
DNA-PCR
Oral DNA testing is made possible using DNA-Polymerase Chain Reaction testing. While it sounds complicated, testing is actually amazingly easy. It just needs a tiny sample of saliva taken from the mouth to do its work.
We can take a saliva sample during a visit to our dentist’s office and send it away for lab testing. Once returned, the test tells us exactly what pathogens are present in the mouth and in what concentrations. It allows us to manage levels and identify potential periodontal disease before it takes hold.
This allows us to tackle the disease early and often long before any clinical symptoms occur. It means the pathogens have less time to grow, to take hold and to do damage which has an obvious effective on both your oral health but also your overall wellbeing.
The term ‘prevention is better than cure’ is a popular one in medicine but is something that dentistry has found it difficult to contend with. Oral DNA testing can help with that in a big way.
As one of the few dentists in New Jersey to be qualified to administer Oral DNA testing, Aesthetic Family Dentistry can help manage periodontal disease before it takes hold. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
