From nutritional counseling to measurable prevention: Using biomarkers in dental hygiene

Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part series. Read part one here.

In the first part of this series, we explored how carotenoids influence inflammation, immune regulation, and periodontal tissue health. Understanding the biological role of these phytonutrients highlights important concepts for dental professionals. Nutritional status can influence the body’s inflammatory response and its ability to maintain oral health.

The challenge of meaningful chairside conversations

While many clinicians recognize the importance of nutrition, translating that knowledge into meaningful chairside conversations can be challenging. Time constraints, limited nutrition training, and uncertainty about how to measure outcomes often prevent these discussions from becoming a routine part of patient care. Research examining nutrition in dentistry has shown that although many oral health professionals recognize the importance of diet in oral health, nutritional counseling is inconsistently incorporated into clinical practice due to barriers such as time, training, and confidence.¹

This is where biomarker technology may offer an important solution.

Measuring nutritional status in real time

Advances in noninvasive diagnostic technology have made it possible to measure certain indicators of nutritional status in real time. One of the most promising devices in preventive health care is the measurement of carotenoids as a marker of antioxidant status. Because carotenoids accumulate in human tissue in response to dietary intake of fruits and vegetables, they provide a useful proxy for overall nutritional quality and antioxidant support.²

Using scanning technology, some chairside devices can estimate carotenoid levels through a quick, painless fingertip scan. Within seconds, clinicians can obtain a numerical score that reflects the patient’s antioxidant status based on carotenoid concentration in the skin.

Advantages of biomarker measurement

For clinicians, this type of biomarker measurement provides several advantages. First, it transforms a general nutrition discussion into a personalized conversation. Instead of broadly advising patients to improve their diet, practitioners can show them an objective score that reflects their current nutritional status. Visual data often resonates with patients more strongly than abstract recommendations.

Second, biomarker measurements provide a baseline that can be tracked over time. Patients who make dietary improvements or incorporate supplementation can return at subsequent visits and observe measurable changes in their antioxidant status. This type of feedback reinforces behavior change and helps patients see the connection between daily habits and health outcomes.

Third, biomarker tools support the evolving role of the dental hygienist as a preventive health professional. Dental hygienists are uniquely positioned to discuss lifestyle factors that influence oral health, including nutrition, inflammation, and systemic wellness. When these discussions are supported by objective data, they become more collaborative and less prescriptive.

Personalized, data-driven patient education

From a patient education perspective, carotenoid measurements can serve as a starting point for broader conversations about dietary patterns. Patients with lower antioxidant scores may benefit from simple recommendations such as increasing consumption of colorful vegetables, leafy greens, and other carotenoid-rich foods. These foods provide phytonutrients that help regulate oxidative stress and support immune function. Both are factors that influence systemic and periodontal health.³

Importantly, biomarker technology does not replace traditional periodontal therapy or oral hygiene education. Rather, it complements existing preventive strategies by addressing another dimension of health: the patient’s internal inflammatory environment.

As dentistry continues to embrace a more integrative understanding of oral-systemic health, tools that connect lifestyle habits with measurable biomarkers may play an increasingly important role in preventive care. By incorporating nutritional biomarkers into the clinical setting, dental hygienists can move beyond generalized dietary advice and toward personalized, data-driven patient education.

Shifting from disease management to prevention

Ultimately, helping patients understand the connection between nutrition, inflammation, and oral health empowers them to participate more actively in their own care. When patients can see how their daily choices influence measurable aspects of their health, the conversation shifts from disease management to prevention. And that shift may represent one of the most important opportunities for the future of dental hygiene.

References

1. Kataoka Y, Adam LA, Ball LE, Crowley J, McLean RM. (2025). Nutrition education and practice in university dental and oral health programmes and curricula: a scoping review. Eur J Dent Educ. 2025;29(1):64-83. doi:10.1111/eje.13045
2. Mayne ST. Beta-carotene, carotenoids, and disease prevention in humans. FASEB J. 1996;10(7):690-701.
3. Iwasaki M, Moynihan P, Manz MC, et al. Dietary antioxidants and periodontal disease in community-based older Japanese: A 2-year follow-up study. Public Health Nutr. 2013;16(2):330-338. doi:10.1017/S1368980012002637