Patient Messaging Guide

This guide was created to assist with communicating the value of oral microbiome salivary testing to patients.

Click below for a downloadable PDF of this guide.

Patient Communication Guide_Bristle.pdf

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Screening Patients

1. As part of your exam today we will be testing your saliva to measure the bacteria that cause bleeding gums, bad breath, cavities, and even gut health issues. It’s similar to the bloodwork you have done when you see your primary care physician, and will help us develop a more personalized and effective care plan for you.

2. We now offer the latest technology for measuring the bacteria in your mouth that cause bleeding gums, bad breath, cavities, and even gut health issues. Our goal is to prevent disease and optimize your health, and this testing allows us to detect early signs of disease before they progress and adjust our care & treatment to be most effective.

3. We now offer a saliva test that measures the good and bad bacteria in your mouth. This testing allows us to detect issues beyond what we can normally see with our current tools like x-rays to catch an imbalance of bacteria before they lead to cavities, gum disease, or bad breath.

4. During your exam, we'll check for problems like cavities and gum disease and tell how how we can fix these issues and help you prevent them from coming back. Since these diseases are caused by bacteria, we can test for which bad bacteria are causing the problems and give you personalized recommendations that go beyond brush and floss.

Patients with Active Symptoms

Bleeding Gums

1. We're seeing that your gums are bleeding, which is an early symptom of gum disease. I’d like to measure these bacteria using a saliva test that will tell us which bacteria are driving the inflammation, and help us determine which treatment will be most effective for you.

2. We're seeing signs your gums are inflamed. These issues are actually caused by certain strains of bacteria. We can’t always tell how bad the condition is just by looking, but we can test your saliva to find out which bacteria are present. The results will let us know how best to treat your symptoms.

Tooth Decay

1. I’m seeing decay in a number of teeth, which could develop into cavities - requiring fillings or root canals. This decay is usually caused by a build up of bacteria in saliva that turn sugars and carbs from your diet into acid - which erodes your enamel. I’d like to measure these bacteria using a saliva test that will tell us which bacteria are driving the decay, and help us determine which treatment will be most effective and appropriate for you.

2. From your x-ray, I can see that some teeth have borderline decay issues and it’s not clear if we need to fix them now or if we can monitor them to see if they get worse. We have a Saliva test that can detect if the bacteria that cause cavities are present on your teeth, which can help us decide whether it’s safe to monitor these issues or if they should be treated immediately.

Bad Breath (Halitosis)

1. You mentioned you’ve been experiencing bad breath. This is extremely common, and I know how frustrating it can be. 90% of the time, bad breath is caused by a build up of certain bacteria in the mouth that release odorous compounds. I’d like to measure these bacteria using a saliva test that will tell us which bacteria are causing your symptoms, and help us determine which treatment will be most effective and appropriate for you.

2. Bad breath is usually caused by bacteria that produce bad smelling sulfur compounds. While brushing and flossing can help, sometimes it’s not enough to remove the bacteria, including those that live on the tongue. We now have a saliva test that can identify which of these bacteria are present so we can customize a plan to help you eliminate them. Also, if the test comes back negative for these bacteria then that will tell us that the odor is coming from somewhere deeper in the respiratory system like the sinus or lungs.

Gut Health

1. You mentioned you’ve been experiencing gut health issues. I know how frustrating it can be. The digestive system begins in the mouth, and research has found that certain oral bacteria may cause or worsen gut conditions like IBD. I’d like to measure these bacteria using a saliva test that can help us determine if your oral bacteria may be impacting your gut health, and choose which treatment will be most effective and appropriate for you.

2. You mentioned that you have gut issues. We're learning a lot about the gut microbiome and how bacteria influence health and disease. Sometimes, however, the initial cause of the gut issue is coming from the mouth. When we swallow, many of the bacteria in our mouth are transferred to the gut. So the mouth can actually be the source of the problem. We can test your saliva to see if there are any bacteria present known to cause gut issues. If we find these bacteria in your saliva then we can treat the problem orally and that might improve your gut issue.

Beneficial Bacteria

1. Most of our assessments look at damage from bad bacteria, like those that cause cavities, but there are also good bacteria in the mouth that help with our immune function, digestion, and reducing blood pressure. We can now measure these bacteria using a saliva test that will measure both the good and bad bacteria, and help us develop a care plan to help increase the levels of good bacteria and decrease the bad.

2. One very important defense mechanism we have in addition to our own immune system is a community of good bacteria that live in our saliva. These good bacteria can help maintain health and balance even if we come in contact with certain bad bacteria. A lot of people can improve their oral health by increasing the protection provided by good bacteria. We have a saliva test that can identify what types of good bacteria you have and see if you have enough or too few to maintain health. Depending on the results we can recommend a plan to help you maintain or improve your condition.