Economists use the term ‘moral hazard’ to describe how people take greater risks when they feel protected by insurance. In the dental world, this might look like someone indulging in sugary foods because they assume their insurance will cover any resulting cavities. If you grew up in a household like mine where medical and dental insurance was limited, you knew that doctor visits were only for serious situations. Perhaps you’ve heard this witty aphorism, you can wait seven days until you feel better, or you can take these pills, and you’ll feel better in a week. That pretty much sums up my parents’ approach to healthcare, and often times it worked. The trouble comes when it doesn’t work.
I’ve been in the dental field for over 25 years and while I can’t say I’ve seen it all, I sometimes get the sense that it’s all the same. I work with patients from diverse backgrounds and whether it’s a one-percenter or a homeless person they speak about their teeth in similar language. Maybe you can relate to some of what I hear from patients: I have bad teeth (translation – sense of futility); I hate the dentist (translation – fear and anxiety); I’m too busy (translation – it’s not important); Nothing is bothering me (translation – disconnect or lack of understanding); and It’s too expensive (which very well may be true). Most of these sentiments come from people with a history of dental issues.
Ideally, preventive strategies are introduced and applied from infancy onward so that major dental problems and their wide-reaching effects are avoided, and you can have a DCM 1. This is important for everyone, but particularly during family planning when you want to get in the best health possible for the sake of you and your baby. Let me tell you about the importance of saliva, the role it plays, and a test that I think is important to establish a baseline and help get to the root of things.
Treat the Cause, Not the Symptom
Think about a time when you had to do some investigation to solve a problem. Maybe you had to find the source of a leak or figure out why your computer is running slowly; in both examples, you had to run some tests. On a dental specific level, perhaps you’ve wondered why a particular filling keeps breaking, why you chew through your nightguard, or why you have persistent gum problems despite your best efforts. Screening and diagnostic tests are common in medicine but less so in dentistry. In dentistry the screening and diagnostic tools most used have not changed much over time: history, x-rays, photos, direct-vision, professional experience, and poking at stuff. We rely on clinical signs that only reveal damage after it has occurred.
I’ve talked to several dentists over the years about salivary analysis, wondering why it is not a common practice. One periodontist (gum specialist) that I hold in high esteem, recently told me that he does not use salivary testing because the treatment is the same no matter what. In other words, by the time a patient lands in his office, they are there for surgery, and you know what they say, if you have a hammer, you look for a nail. The time for prevention is in the distant past.
My role as an oral health coach is to support you in your goals toward better health. You may have a specific concern or simply want to gather information on how to avoid problems. Regardless, you can learn a good deal about yourself by looking closely at the composition of your saliva, and while knowledge is not enough to motivate someone to change their behavior, I do find that people armed with information tend to take more ownership of their health outcomes.
The Role of Saliva
I once told my boss that, “my favorite body fluid is saliva”. She looked at me quizzically (as she often does) and stated that given the other bodily fluids, she didn’t see how anyone could come to a different conclusion. You may wonder why I am so passionate about saliva and it’s because saliva is the life force of the oral cavity, and we take it for granted! The mouth is constantly bathed in saliva, which is primarily made of water, but is also teeming with microorganisms, viruses, fungi, mucus, DNA, RNA, proteins, metabolites, white blood cells, enzymes, minerals, and more.
The composition and quantity of our saliva can have a significant impact on our quality of life and can contribute to increased susceptibility to tooth decay and gum disease, bad breath, difficulty speaking, discomfort, infections, and poor digestion of food. Saliva is a dynamic and versatile fluid which is what makes it so amazing. Its protective qualities are partly attributed to the fluctuations in the amount and makeup of saliva throughout the day and over time as we age. Given how much saliva reveals about your oral health, wouldn’t it be great if we could analyze it to prevent further issues? That’s where the Bristle Oral Health Test comes in.
The Bristle Oral Health Test
The oral microbiome, which is a fancy way to say the community of bacteria and other organisms in your mouth, isn’t static. Many factors have an impact on saliva, such as the foods you eat, the products you use, medications you take, and even how you sleep – to name a few. A salivary analysis provides a snapshot of this environment, giving valuable insight into your oral health. Unlike other tests that only check for specific pathogens, the Bristle Oral Health Test analyzes all the DNA in your sample, offering a complete picture of both beneficial and harmful bacteria. The test is simple and non-invasive, you simply spit in a tube and mail back your sample. We’ll receive your results in 2 – 3 weeks then have a conversation about the findings.
Why is this important? A healthy mouth isn’t bacteria free – it’s about balance. Beneficial bacteria support your health, while harmful bacteria can trigger disease when they overgrow. When this balance is disrupted (dysbiosis), and the immune system reacts strongly (often with inflammation), the result is oral disease. Identifying these imbalances early, before symptoms appear, can help prevent bigger problems.
In upcoming posts, I’ll dive deeper into how the oral microbiome influences your health from head to toe. In the meantime, consider taking a saliva test – you’ll be glad if you do.
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P.S. Though diagnosing disease is beyond the scope of my work, biomarkers in saliva have also been shown to help diagnose oral cancer, periodontal disease, Sjogren’s syndrome, and dental caries and its utility is the basis for ongoing research.
- Disgustingly Clean Mouth[↩]