This presentation introduces functional medicine providers to the clinical value of saliva and periodontal testing as a practical bridge between oral health, systemic inflammation, and preventive care. It explains how saliva can serve as a noninvasive diagnostic fluid for detecting microbial, inflammatory, host-response, hormonal, infectious, metabolic, cardiovascular, neurologic, and oncologic signals. The lecture emphasizes the role of periodontal pathogens, oral dysbiosis, MMP-8, IL-1β, IL-6, CRP, microbiome signatures, and emerging “salivaomics” platforms in risk stratification, early disease detection, treatment monitoring, and interdisciplinary referral workflows. Participants will learn how to integrate saliva-based testing into functional medicine and dental care models to personalize prevention, support oral-systemic risk assessment, improve patient engagement, and track longitudinal response to therapy.
Speaker: David Vigerust MS.PhD- Chief Scientific Officer of Simplytest
