Health begins in the mouth, and it is strengthened through balanced, healthy nutrition. Metals in mouth, diet, cheap dental materials, saturated fats, alcohol, bacterial imbalance … they can weaken immunity and destroy valuable gut bacteria which play an important role in regulating your immune system. In the last twenty years, the research brought to light the diagnostic qualities of saliva. Biomarkers for cancers, diabetes, immune disorders as well as the bacterial balance in the mouth can provide a wealth of information, non-invasively.
We knew for a long time about oral galvanism, which is a phenomenon that occurs when two different metals (silver/copper amalgam fillings, metallic or metal-ceramic crowns, gold inlays-onlays) coexist in the mouth. The galvanic current is a term that has been used in dentistry from 1933. Saliva acts as a conductive medium and its qualities are affected by the electric current. Research to date shows that the electric exchange of ions between different metals in the mouth could pose a serious health risk. In 2012, the team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Niedermeier from Köln Dental School determined the “oral galvanism induces subcellular changes similar to the oral squamous cell carcinoma (malignant oral cancer) cells in vivo”.1.
Furthermore, the American National Institute of Health (NIH) is currently funding five American universities, among them also U.C.L.A. School of Dentistry, in the research of saliva and developing technologies for detecting biomarkers for pancreatic and lung cancer. We are not far from the day when a device will analyze saliva and can detect the earliest cancerous cells roaming through the body.
Until then, we are able to detect in our practice immune disorders, early sign of diabetes, systemic inflammation and imbalances in the oral microbiome. Using technologies such Laser-induced Autofluorescence from Zeiss, Germany and Velscope Vx, USA we can detect the earliest changes in oral mucosa, tongue, lips that can lead to development of oral cancer. Viruses as Covid-19 and Human Papiloma Virus (particularly the strands 16 and 18 which are the most carcinogenic) can also be easily detected in saliva.
Having these diagnostic tools available now in our practice, empowers us to intervene proactively and maintain health in the most minimally invasive way possible.
Ask us for more information at your next visit to our practice.
Costin Marinescu, dr.-medic stom. DDS (USA)
1. Induction of apoptosis and up-regulation of cellular proliferation in oral leukoplakia cell lines inside electric field.
Ahmed Korraah, BDS, MS, Margarete Odenthal, PD Dr., Marion Kopp, Dipl-Biol, Nadarajah Vigneswaran, DMD, DDS, Peter G. Sacks, PhD, Hans Peter Dienes, Prof. Dr. Med., Hartmut Stützer, Dr Med Dipl–Math, Wilhelm Niedermeier, Prof. Dr. Med. Dent.
Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology, Volume 113, Issue 5, May 2012, Pages 644–654