Concept · DentalDx · chairside saliva
Every cleaning, a health check.
Many people see their dentist more regularly than their doctor. A ten-second saliva swab at the start of a routine cleaning could measure gum inflammation, active bone loss, the bacteria behind gum disease and markers linked to diabetes and heart disease, with the results ready before the patient leaves the chair.
From visual to molecular
See the disease before the damage.
Dentistry today mostly measures damage that has already happened: pocket depth, bleeding, bone loss on an X-ray. The molecules that drive that damage are in the saliva months earlier, and they also carry signals about the rest of the body.
| The exam today | With DentalDx (concept) | |
|---|---|---|
| What is measured | Probing depth, bleeding, visible redness | Inflammation, tissue breakdown and bone-turnover molecules |
| Bone loss | X-rays show it after it has happened | RANKL/OPG and MMP-8 show active breakdown now |
| Bacteria | Inferred from appearance | Keystone pathogen P. gingivalis detected directly |
| Result | A clinician's judgment | Numbers that can be compared visit to visit |
| Whole-body health | Rarely addressed in the chair | CRP and optional HbA1c flag inflammation and diabetes risk |
Try it · the chairside report
What the hygienist would see.
Pick a patient. The tablet shows what one saliva cartridge would report: a gum-inflammation score from IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6, tissue breakdown from MMP-8, bone-loss activity from RANKL/OPG, the keystone pathogen, and CRP as a whole-body signal.
Illustration with invented values. Not clinical guidance and not a cleared test.
Zero added chair time
Swab, insert, clean as usual.
The test runs in the background while the hygienist does the normal cleaning and exam. By the time the patient sits up, the report is on the screen.
The cartridges
One reader. Two strips of six.
The chairside reader holds two six-line saliva strips and reads all twelve lines at once with fixed lasers, no scanning. A practice can run strip A at every cleaning and add strip B when it matters; finger-prick and patch modules use the same format.
Gum health
Bone, stress and risk
Medical-grade add-ons
Diabetes and gum disease worsen each other. A finger-prick HbA1c in the chair can prompt a referral that changes a patient's health.
Healing after treatment
A painless DisposableDx patch tracks recovery after deep cleaning or implants at home.
For oral-care brands
From the toothbrush aisle to a health platform.
An oral-care brand already sits in every bathroom, twice a day. Saliva is the easiest sample there is. The same crystal chemistry that works in the dental chair can work at home: a weekly saliva check that tells people how their gums are doing, and when to book the dentist.
Weekly gum check
A saliva strip read by a small reader or phone accessory. Trends, not diagnoses.
Chairside core panel
Every cleaning, objective numbers the patient can see and track.
Systemic screening
Advanced saliva plus finger-prick HbA1c and CRP, with physician referral.
Between-visit monitoring
Healing and inflammation tracked after treatment, shared with the practice.
A reason to come back
A number that improves with care is more motivating than "floss more".
A new service line
Paid screening and subscription monitoring alongside existing dental and medical billing paths.
A daily health relationship
Data that connects products, dental visits and outcomes.
Path to market
Wellness first. Diagnosis next.
Our proposed route: start with a simple screening product with modest claims, then pursue clearance for diagnostic claims once the data is in.
Oral-inflammation screening
Target: a simple, low-risk workflow suitable for CLIA-waived use, positioned as screening rather than diagnosis.
Diagnostic claims
Target: FDA 510(k) clearance using existing saliva-test predicates, unlocking definitive clinical claims.
Regulatory targets, not achieved clearances. DentalDx is a concept in development with NovaVera.
Partners wanted
Dentistry is no longer just about clean teeth.
We are looking for oral-care, dental-group and dental-equipment partners to build the chairside and at-home saliva panels.
All diagnostics programs
One reporter. People, animals and the environment.
See the overview and readiness map →Intelligent Material Solutions invents the crystals and holds the intellectual property; NovaVera Corp. makes and sells them under an exclusive license. The field-proven lateral-flow tests are for research use only. Everything marked in development or concept is not a cleared medical, veterinary or environmental test; any product would need validation and, where required, regulatory clearance.
