Neil Gottehrer, DDS, is the Chief Dental Officer of PeriRx.

For more than a decade, the majority of dentists have been sitting on the fence regarding the adoption of salivary diagnostic testing. This indecision prevails despite the fact that the latest advances in salivary molecular DNA testing deliver results with an accuracy and specificity that rival that of blood, while at the same time being easier to administer, painless, and noninvasive.

What’s more, salivary diagnostic technology promises to be one of the main catalysts for closing the gap between dentistry and medicine, as it will create an early warning system for a wide range of systemic diseases — direct from the dentist’s operatory chair. [Read more…]

Oral cancer is the sixth most prevalent form of cancer in the United States. According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 43,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year.

What’s more, the mortality rate for oral cancer is alarmingly high, with more than 8,000 deaths every year. This equates to one person dying every hour, 24 hours per day.

Earlier oral cancer detection through a visual inspection combined with molecular DNA testing can help reverse these statistics. The problem up until now has been to accurately identify cancerous lesions through visual inspection of the oral cavity conducted by the clinician’s naked eye or with an adjunctive fluorescent device. [Read more…]

According to the Oral Cancer Foundation and the National Cancer Institute, about 43,000 people in the United States will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in 2014. This includes those cancers that occur in the mouth itself, in the very back of the mouth known as the oropharynx, and on the exterior lip of the mouth [Read more…]

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Oral cancer is the sixth most prevalent form of cancer in the United States. According to the Oral Cancer Foundation and the National Cancer Institute, approximately 43,000 people in the U.S. will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in 2014. This includes those cancers that occur in the mouth itself, in the very back of the mouth, known as the oropharynx, and on the exterior lip of the mouth.

Oral cancer is also curable if detected early enough. [Read more…]