When you’re an innovative company that’s introduced a game-changing protocol for the accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of oral infections, you’re bound to get a lot of questions.
Here are some of the most common questions we receive from clinicians and patients alike. If your question isn’t answered here, please contact us immediately. We’ll do our best to answer your question within 24-48 hours.
OraVital Certified Clinics are carefully selected, full-service dental practices that have special OraVital equipment and extensive training. Call us at 800-909-6468, or email us directly to get started finding a clinic that can facilitate your needs
The patent-pending OraVital System, provides the most accurate diagnosis and most effective treatment of the oral infections that cause periodontal disease, halitosis, peri-implantitis and caries while controlling the oral systemic link. The system consists of a patent pending, proprietary protocol of advanced oral microbial analysis combined with a personalized regimen of targeted prescribed antibiotic rinses and creams that is layered onto existing periodontal programs with unique self care techniques. We also offer coaching to assist with the implementation of the OraVital System When used by an OraVital Certified Clinic, the OraVital System is guaranteed to reduce bleeding on probing by 80-87% and reduce gum pockets that were 6 mm or less at the beginning of therapy by 79-84%. Click here for complete details on the OraVital Results Guarantee. Find the OraVital Certified Clinic nearest you.
Oral microbial analysis consists of the taking of samples of bacteria found in the mouth, specifically above and below the gums, tongue, throat and saliva and then analyzing these samples for bacteria that cause oral infection. A report with information on the types of bacteria that are present in the four locations is sent to the dental office. The clinicians use the report as one of several diagnostic tools to determine treatment and select the targeted antibiotic rinse and cream. For more information click here.
When you use a rinse and spit antibiotic, the medication is not swallowed. With this method, systemic side effects such as upset stomach or a change in gut bacteria/yeast infections are avoided. Another very important advantage of rinse and spit antibiotics is that the bacteria elsewhere in your body are not exposed to the medication and therefore will not develop resistance, which is of increasing concern to the medical community. Lastly, rinse and spit medication is undiluted, not metabolized and directed at the infected areas immediately. When medications are taken orally, it is diluted, metabolized, malabsorbed and takes time for sufficient medication to travel through the blood stream and reach the site of the oral infection. In conclusion, rinse and spit applications are much more efficient than pills as 100% of the medication is applied to the oral tissue, whereas pills are diluted throughout the whole body. What’s more, rinse and spit antibiotics deliver 3000x the concentration of oral pills in saliva without physical discomfort or other side effects. This ensures penetration into the densest biofilms throughout the whole mouth.
Bacteria need to be exposed to a minimum concentration of antibiotic to be controlled. The concentration of medication in the OraVital antibiotic mouth rinse is many times higher than the minimum levels required to kill bacteria. Infected gum tissue is infected is typically swollen, which creates spaces around the tooth. When the particulate antibiotic rinse is swished between the teeth as directed, the medication particles can penetrate the tissues and accumulate in these pockets.
For some people, national brand mouthwashes can reduce plaque and control mild gum disease and/or halitosis. However, most people need something more powerful to penetrate the oral biofilms. Dental professionals working in an OraVital Certified Clinic can prescribe antibiotic, antimicrobial and maintenance rinses that are significantly more effective than drug store brands. For example, while leading national mouthwash brands can reduce symptoms of mild gum disease by about 11%. In comparison, OraVital’s antimicrobial and maintenance rinses, when prescribed by a dental professional working in an OraVital Certified Clinic can reduce mild and moderate gum disease by about 40% and our antibiotic rinses reduce symptoms by 90% (clinical average) for gum disease. OraVital treatment is even more effective for bacteria-caused halitosis.
Bleeding is never normal! It is a sign of gum disease/infection. Flossing is a mechanical technique commonly taught to prevent gum disease but it is now known that it only cleans the tooth effectively, not the gum biofilms. OraVital recommends a unique self care regime to disturb and disrupt the gum biofilms. Gums bleed when there is an overgrowth of periodontal bacteria causing an oral infection. The OraVital System was designed to effectively control harmful oral bacteria. After OraVital treatment, your gums will stop bleeding and return to a normal, healthy state. You will also be taught more effective alternatives to flossing. Click here to learn more about OraVital treatment of oral infections like gum disease.
OraVital medications are very effective in treating mild to moderate periodontal disease and halitosis with a 90% success rate when used as directed by an OraVital Certified Clinic. Our medications are targeted specifically against those bacteria that are responsible for these oral infections. Once the oral infection is treated, we recommend regular professional dental visits and the use a maintenance rinses as well as easy-to-follow home care to prevent the return of infection.
OraVital Certified Clinic dental teams conduct a variety of objective analytical tests before and after treatment with the OraVital System and compare these results after treatment to determine the effectiveness of the care. These comparative results clearly show whether levels of aggressive bacteria causing gun disease and halitosis have been adequately reduced and rebalanced following treatment. It is important to note that bacteria can never be fully eradicated, but can be reduced and rebalanced to ensure ongoing optimal oral health.
OraVital antibiotic and antimicrobial rinses have drug identification numbers and are eligible for medical insurance coverage through private plans.
OraVital treatment is, for the most part (typically 60% to 80%), covered by dental insurance under examination coding and periodontal revaluations along with recommended periodontal care. The extent of the coverage depends on the individual policy. The treatment cost depends on several factors unique to each patient and is determined at the time of your first assessment. However, the average cost before insurance reimbursement for biofilm testing is between $89 – $94 plus the dentist’s professional fee and the two rinses cost approximately $125.00.
OraVital System breath (halitosis) treatment consists of 3 appointments at an OraVital Certified Clinic, about an hour each. The first appointment is for an assessment, microbial testing and initial treatment that includes an antibiotic rinse targeting the bacteria found from the testing. The second appointment is to evaluate your breath and the tissues after treatment and to re-take microbiology samples for re-checking the mouth bacteria and to prescribe the appropriate maintenance program. The third appointment is to evaluate the effectiveness of this personal program and make changes if needed. These appointments build upon each other to provide a balance in the mouth bacteria and to ensure that the tissues are healthy.
OraVital System gum care adds one additional appointment to your recommended gum and self care routine. Four weeks after you start taking the recommended antibiotic rinses, a complete re-evaluation is scheduled. For most patients that is all that is needed.
Our medications are in the form of rinses with instructions to rinse, gargle and spit out without swallowing any of the medication, thus eliminating any systemic interaction and side effects. The medication is concentrated and some say it has a metallic taste. This can be minimized by brushing first with a minty toothpaste.
When your whole mouth biofilms are healthy daily maintenance rinses are required to keep them in balance. Occasionally, lifestyle changes resulting in stress, poor diet or illness can result in the return of mouth odour and/or periodontal disease. When this happens, a new round of OraVital’s oral microbial analysis and full re-treatment with OraVital’s antibiotic medication rinses, plus a return to the maintenance rinse regimen may be required.
Research shows that there is an oral-systemic link of infection between the mouth and body. Pregnant women who have oral infections therefore incur an increased risk of low birth weight babies and/or early delivery from exposure to these harmful bacteria. If you have gingivitis, periodontitis or halitosis, it is advisable to be tested and have this treated prior to becoming pregnant. These harmful bacteria are spread through your bloodstream to the unborn child. If you are currently pregnant, this treatment can be applied in the second trimester. It is always advisable to consult your obstetrician prior to treatment.
Improper use of the rinse (non-compliance): If the level of antibiotic is not maintained at the minimum level in the infected area, the anaerobic bacteria will reproduce quickly and reach their original populations in a matter of hours. Bacteria can double the size of their colonies every 4 to 8 hours if the antibiotic levels drop below the minimum effectiveness threshold. Therefore, (1) skipping a single dose in the prescribed regimen, (2) failing to use the rinse properly, (3) failing to deliver the antibiotic rinse/cream into the infected area, or (4) washing out the mouth with water, drinks or food within 30 minutes of using the rinse will greatly reduce or even nullify the effectiveness of the medication. Non-compliance or poor rinse/cream application are the main reasons why antibiotic rinses appear to be ineffective. You do not complete the recommended gum care suggested by your dental professional. If you do not follow the suggested unique self care techniques to control harmful bacteria on a daily basis, the infection will return. If the OraVital antibiotic rinses have been used properly, but bacterial levels appear to remain high, it is possible that the bacteria that are present in the mouth are insensitive to the antibiotic used in the rinse. Although the rinses are effective against most periodontal bacteria, there are some species that do not respond to this medication. Your OraVital Certified Clinic dentist can prescribe an alternate rinse system that we have made available for this purpose.
Did you know that gingivitis and periodontitis are oral infections that affect 75% of the adult population? If your gums bleed then these bacteria spread through saliva to your loved ones, destroy your jaw bone, cause tooth loss and enter your bloodstream creating remote infections causing heart attacks, Alzheimer’s and rheumatoid arthritis. You may not have been aware that these infections do affect your overall health! Click here to learn more about oral infection.
Yes! gum disease can be passed from one person to another through saliva transfer such as kissing, by sharing food or drinking from the same glass or cup. Bacteria from the mother can be passed on to the young child by wetting the pacifier with saliva and by and kissing. Whether the bacteria take hold in the receiving child or adult depends on that person’s immune system and genetic makeup. The best way of controlling the spread of this infection is to start with yourself and be tested for aggressive bacteria. If these bacteria are present, then treatment of the infection will control it for you and for those around you. In families, if one person has an oral infection, then everyone in the family should be tested and all the family’s oral infections treated at the same time.
When there is an infection in the mouth, it may create an unusual or uncomfortable taste that will not disappear with oral hygiene alone. This is due to large numbers of bacteria producing gas byproducts from the proteins that they break down. The proteins come from your gums, dead cells and bits of food particles. When bacteria digest these proteins, the chemicals that are left over are the chemicals that are left over are called volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs). They are also very toxic and foul-smelling. When these chemicals dissolve in the saliva, they also give you a bad taste. Some of these chemicals are hydrogen sulphide, methyl mercaptan and dimethyl sulphide.
The coating and bitter taste are often caused by the body’s reaction to the bacteria and yeasts that are present on the tongue surface. The VSCs produced by bacteria dissolve in the saliva coating the tongue affecting your taste buds and altering taste perception. OraVital treatment should restore normal taste after treatment.
Yes, this is possible. Oral infection will cause periodontal disease, leading to a breakdown of the membranes that hold the tooth in place. In mild cases, this leads to gum recession and in severe cases,even tooth loss. If you have crowns or veneers and your gums recede, this will leave a noticeable margin or gap between the gum and the veneer/crown, ruining your smile. As the membranes that support the teeth in place within the bone slowly break down, expensive crowns and bridges may be lost along with the teeth.
Yes, children are susceptible. If one of the parents have an oral infection or bad breath, the children in the family are 35 to 50 times more likely to develop an oral infection. Therefore, it is important to be periodontally healthy.
Yes! Braces are a constant foreign object in the mouth and they disturb the salivary flow, create scratches (little wounds) around the tongue and inner lip and trap food. Because the areas around the braces are difficult to clean, bacteria grow profusely forming strong matrices between the gum line and the braces. This results in inflammation of the tissues and gingivitis. If you use our recommended self care and then OraVital’s prescribed medications in the form of a topical rinse, they will be quite effective in killing bacteria from these colonies around the braces. Our maintenance rinses will maintain a healthy biofilm.
The most accepted cause of dry mouth is insufficient production of saliva. However, we have many clients who complain of oral dryness even though there is ample saliva present. We have found that the dry and pasty feeling described by our clients is a response of the tongue and tissues to the increased chemical production by bacteria. Bacteria produce volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs) such as hydrogen supplied, methyl mercaptan and dimethyl supplied that makes the tissues feel dry when the VSCs coat the taste buds. Once these bacteria are reduced and their by-products eliminated, the sensation disappears and there is no longer a complaint of oral dryness. Dry mouth can also be caused by prescription drugs and diabetes. We may recommend speaking to your physician as well.
OraVital Certified Clinics are carefully selected, full-service dental practices that have special OraVital equipment and extensive training. Click here for a directory of OraVital Clinics.
Yes! The most common source of bad breath (halitosis) is oral bacteria. As in all oral infections, these bacteria are contagious and can affect all family members or any people in close contact with each other.
Most individuals notice that there is an unpleasant taste in the morning and sometimes during the day. The most common reason for this is the toxic products that bacteria produce and dump onto your tongue. If you have bad breath, you might notice some sign of this through body language of those around you — for example, moving away or not getting close. In families, a common sign is being asked if you have brushed your teeth even if you have brushed recently. Those individuals whose breath is very bad often lose the sense of smell and taste because the chemicals that these bacteria produce are very harmful to the cells of the body, including those of smell and taste.
Gum disease and halitosis, or persistent bad breath, is an oral infection caused by the same overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria in the mouth even in healthy mouths. It may not be your fault. The toxic and malodorous volatile sulphur compounds byproducts of these bacteria cause the bad smell and taste. An OraVital breath clinic can find the location of odours and treat them in diseased and healthy mouths. OraVital treatment controls the bacterial overgrowth and returns your mouth to a healthy state with no more bad breath. Click here to learn more about OraVital treatment of oral infections like halitosis.
You most likely have tonsilloliths. These cauliflower-like lumps are a combination of bacteria, food debris, dead cells and mucous. This material accumulates in the small pockets in the tonsils and eventually the action of the throat muscles forces some of it out. The odour from the tonsilloliths is unpleasant because of the bacterial byproducts. Tonsilloliths can be treated with the antibiotic rinse followed by antimicrobial rinses. The number of lumps, the size of the lumps and the frequency they appear can all be reduced dramatically but it takes some time for all the lumps to work themselves out of the pockets. Eventually, they may disappear altogether. If the tonsils are considerably enlarged, inflamed and very infected, it is best to see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist for a diagnosis. With such severe cases, surgical removal of the tonsils is the most effective way to eliminate this problem. Laser surgery to remove the pits and smooth out the tonsils has also been used effectively for some individuals. For others, the tonsilloliths reappeared.
Bacteria that use protein as their food grow on the tongue and the back of the tongue as well as the teeth. These bacteria can also infect the dentures. A microbiology test will show where the Gram-negative groups of bacteria are most predominant. The OraVital antibiotic rinse will decrease these bacteria. The denture will also be treated to reduce the numbers of bacteria that are present to prevent re-infection.
Maintenance rinses are used daily to keep the harmful bacteria under control after the biofilm is healthy and rebalance by the OraVital system. Occasionally, reinfection from someone else’s saliva, dehydration, lifestyle changes resulting in stress, poor diet or illness can result in the return of mouth odour and/or the periodontal disease. When this happens, a full re-treatment including OraVital’s oral microbial analysis and antibiotic medication rinses, plus a return to the maintenance rinse regiment would be required to rebalance the oral bacteria.
For those patients whose biofilm begins to shift from healthy to disease-producing, a new round of OraVital oral microbial analysis and full re-treatment with OraVital’s antibiotic medication rinses, plus a return to the maintenance rinse regimen would be required. This is not commonly done.
Yes! The bacteria causing infection in your mouth is under the gums, on the tongue and back of the throat where you can not cleanse. OraVital antibiotic rinses cover all these areas. Therefore, using the antibiotic rinse before placing an implant helps prevent infections. If you have swollen bleeding tissues around an implant this is very serious. Using self care techniques to cleanse the space between the gum and implant all around is critical. We will review this. Then a cream form of the antibiotic can be used around the implant or if necessary rinse with the antibiotic as well. This is a predictable way to prevent and treat these infections.
OraVital focuses on the cause of the problem. To get and stay healthy you need to disturb and disrupt the bacterial biofilms where they are located with techniques that work. We will recommend unique self care methods that predictably deliver healthy gums and teeth. Then we test for the bacteria causing the infection. Using the results, we target the infection you have with an antibiotic rinse and spit which is far superior to oral pills 90% of the time. In fact, we offer guaranteed results! Click here for information.
