A revolutionary saliva test could help identify a range of serious health conditions years before symptoms emerge.
The simple swab process can spot harmful enzymes that maybe the pre-cursor to issues from serious gum disease — but may also flag up heart attack risk.
The test, which costs from £50, could provide a vital early warning that could allow medics to start treatments with patients to modify their lifestyles before conditions can develop and cause serious damage.
The test provides a traffic light indication of gum disease within ten minutes and also flags up risk of other issues, such as heart disease, diabetes and even dementia.
‘The new test acts as an alarm system,’ said leading Harley Street dentist Dr Fazeela Khan-Osborne, who is introducing the Periosafe test as part of routine consultations.
‘Our mouths contain millions of bacteria and many pose a considerable risk to both oral health and other conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
‘This gives us a vital new tool to help diagnose any issues and allow patients to receive the right treatment.
‘This test establishes issues at an early stage rather than playing catch up.’
A revolutionary saliva test could help identify a range of serious health conditions years before symptoms emerge
Gum disease is a major drain on the NHS and research has shown that it can be marker for other serious health conditions.
Arresting new cases of gum disease would save the NHS £5.5 billion over ten years according to recent reports.
Dr Fazeela Khan-Osborne believes the test could have a dramatic impact on gum health and ultimately help save lives.
She said: ‘The mouth contains millions of bacteria, but only some of them pose a risk because they are higher in numbers than they should be.
‘Identifying these bacterial groups allows us to grade patients with these risk factors.
‘If this risk factor is high, it allows dentists like me to conduct are more in-depth examination and create a tailored plan for my patients as well as referring to other health professionals.
‘Going to the hygienist, using an electric toothbrush, and using a fluoride toothpaste are just some of the ways patients can physically help to reduce the population of the dangerous bugs and improve their chances against gum disease.
‘Your mouth is a marker and acts as a window to the rest of your general health it can show deficiencies and signal to your dentist that there could be a problem elsewhere in the body.
Almost 4.3 million people were living with diabetes in 2021/22, according to the latest figures for the UK. And another 850,000 people have diabetes and are completely unaware of it
While some warning signs of a cardiovascular problem are easy to spot — such as severe chest pain — others are more vague and hard to pinpoint
‘Dental check-ups are just as important as a check up with your GP.’
The development comes amid on an ongoing dental health crisis. A quarter of adults have delayed dental care or treatment because of the cost, an official survey published earlier this month revealed.
One in three also said the cost of dentistry has affected the type of care or treatment they go on to have, while a quarter fail to brush their teeth at least twice a day.
The poll included 6,343 responses from 4,429 households in England and was commissioned by the Government’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.
Overall, 66 per cent of of people said they had very good or good oral health, 26 per cent said it was fair and seven per cent said it was bad or very bad.
The findings come a month after a damning report by the Nuffield Trust, a health think tank, warned NHS dentistry has ‘gone for good’ and must be rationed for those most in need.
It described it as being at the most perilous point in its 75-year history and said patients should be means-tested if it is to survive at all.
Patients have told of their failure to find an NHS dentist, with some resorting to pulling out their own teeth after enduring crippling pain.
The new survey found only 63 per cent of people go to a dentist for regular check-ups, 15 per cent go occasionally and 18 per cent go only when they have trouble with their mouth, teeth or dentures.
Meanwhile, nearly half of all adults (47 per cent) have been affected by their teeth in the last year, with 28 per cent saying they had felt self-conscious, 24 per cent finding it uncomfortable to eat any foods and 20 per cent having painful aching in their mouth.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘Access to dentistry is improving – last year 1.7 million more adults and some 800,000 more children saw an NHS dentist – and we have also announced plans to increase dental training places by 40 per cent.
‘We want every adult and child who needs an NHS dentist to get one regardless of where in England they live.’
