Dental Hygiene & Preventative Care

Oral hygiene services provided by our on-site dental hygienists focus on preventing or delaying issues with the gums and bone, and minimising cavities. Our Preventative Care Department is there to help you avoid dentist treatment and to brighten your smile by improving the health of your gums and minimise staining.

Our Dental Hygienists

Katherine Geremia RDH

Katherine graduated from the Canadian Academy of Dental Hygiene in 2010 with Honours. She then attended The University of Alberta and University of Manitoba to attain certification in Local Anaesthetic and Nitrous oxide. Katherine is a member of the New Zealand, Canadian and Australian Dental Hygiene Associations. She is also a trained professional in Laser Periodontal Therapy. Katheine has been working at Dougherty Dental since Nov 2021.

Wellness Dentistry

Dougherty Dental is proud to be part of a new movement in dentistry that goes beyond teeth.

A trip to the dentist typically involves fillings, cleanings, and other routine services. But today, progressive dentists are spending more time learning and informing patients how dentistry and overall heath are directly connected. For example, when patients are experiencing gum disease, their chances of serious health risks (heart disease, diabetes, etc.) dramatically increases. This is known as oral systemic health.

This new approach to dentistry is being recognized worldwide. Patients are benefiting from increased longevity and vitality and rethinking how to choose a dentist who thinks about oral and overall health. Multiple organizations teach dentists to recognize these harmful mouth issues, including the Kois Center and The Wellness Dentistry Network. Dentists are being encouraged to embrace oral systemic health and to collaborate with medical doctors for better patient health. Stay tuned for future articles about the mouth-body connection, including how oral inflammation affects overall health and what symptoms to look out for.

Oral DNA Testing

We are proud to offer Oral DNA testing at Dougherty Dental.

Find Clarity On Health Risks

Your saliva is an important component of your mouth. It aids in breaking down foods early in the digestive process and makes swallowing much easier. It contains proteins that kill bacteria and minerals that help to remineralize your teeth. It works to keep your mouth at a neutral pH level. It is also essential for keeping your oral tissues moist, preventing them from drying out, and protecting them from bacterial attacks. In addition to all of these incredible functions, your saliva can also do something else. At Dougherty Dental, we perform oral DNA testing to diagnose overall health issues, including heart attack and stroke risk, and help you get the treatments you need.

What Is Oral DNA Testing?

Oral DNA testing, often called salivary testing, is a diagnostic tool that is regulated by the FDA. The tool uses your saliva to determine the presence of oral health issues such as gum disease, and general health issues such as heart attack and stroke. How does it do this though? Your DNA contains biomarkers, which are traceable substances. Some of the biomarkers that occur in your saliva are linked to certain oral issues.

Oral DNA tests are genetic tests, which means that the DNA contained in your saliva is analyzed to confirm or predict the presence of a disease. The saliva can be used to make a definitive diagnosis if you are exhibiting specific symptoms. Your saliva can also be used to predict your risk of developing certain types of oral health, or other health, issues before symptoms ever make an appearance.

Why Is Saliva So Important?

Your saliva is crucial for the health of your mouth. It keeps your mouth moist, kills bacteria, and improves the digestive process. It is also a mirror of your overall health. The saliva contains proteins as well as biochemicals, which also be found in the blood. Both proteins and chemicals can be linked to some different issues such as gum disease, heart disease, diabetes, and more. Looking at the saliva can give us significant insight into the condition of your whole-body health.

What Are The Benefits Of Oral DNA Testing?

Oral DNA testing has many different benefits

Other benefits of oral DNA testing include:

  • Assessing your risk for oral health issues allows us to create a treatment plan to help protect your mouth. In preventing these issues from occurring, the risk of issues like heart disease and diabetes is reduced.
  • We can determine if you have certain genetic markers that increase your risk for inflammation.
  • We can determine the presence of the strains of HPV that increase your risk for oral cancer.
  • We can  measure, the bacteria, yeast, and viruses using salivary diagnostics

Plan Your Treatment with Certainty

With oral DNA testing, we can detect the presence of oral, and overall, health issues before you even start to exhibit symptoms. This can then allow us to help you get the treatments you need to stop these issues in their tracks, preventing them from developing into something more severe. For more information on oral DNA testing, call Dougherty Dental  today at (03) 2189687.

At our office, we use clinical laboratory services from OralDNA Labs® to ensure we are giving our patients the best oral health information possible. OralDNA Labs® is a specialty diagnostics company designed to provide reliable, definitive and cost effective clinical tests that guide oral health professionals in detecting and prognosing disease at an earlier, more treatable stage.