Lecture up to 1 hour

Oral Medicine, Oral Diagnosis, Oral Pathology, AGD Subject Code 730

Saliva is a practical, noninvasive diagnostic matrix that turns subjective chairside impressions into objective, serial data for precision prevention. This session shows clinicians how to implement salivary testing in daily practice by linking microbial, inflammatory, and proteomic signals to oral–systemic risk and routine decisions. We synthesize current evidence connecting high-risk periodontal pathogens and host-response biomarkers with cardiometabolic and inflammatory disease, and translate those findings into risk stratification, targeted interventions, and recall intervals.

You will learn the major salivary biomarker categories (microbial nucleic acids; inflammatory mediators; proteomic/metabolomic signatures) and how to select technologies (qPCR/dPCR, NGS, multiplex immunoassays) based on sensitivity/specificity, turnaround, and cost. Dr Vigerust will outline a standard sample-to-report workflow—from pre-analytical controls and lab selection to interpretation, patient communication, and cross-disciplinary referral triggers—so testing integrates seamlessly across dental, medical, and integrative settings.

Upon completion of this workshop, attendees should be able to:

• Differentiate key salivary biomarker categories and relate them to disease risk.

• Design a workflow to implement salivary diagnostics from collection to follow-up care.

Dr. Vigerust received a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Vigerust conducted post-doctoral research in the Department of Infectious Disease at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in viral glycosylation, host defense from influenza, and bacterial secondary infection. Dr. Vigerust completed a second postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical School in the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, focusing on the molecular biology of respiratory viruses. 

Dr Vigerust was formerly a faculty member in the Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Microbiology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a Research Scientist at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Vigerust has been Chief Scientific Officer and Director of Clinical Affairs at several molecular diagnostics laboratories focused on dentistry, infectious disease, and prevention medicine. Dr. Vigerust has published extensively in international journals, presented at national and international conferences, and is an active editor and reviewer for several journals. 

Dr Vigerust holds an adjunct assistant professor position in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a graduate faculty position at the University of Kansas, and was recently appointed to the Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine.

Dr Vigerust’s academic and research interests focus on areas of precision medicine, oral diagnostics, infectious disease, and cancer