Upgrade Your Care with Salivary Testing

Improve patient outcomes through preventative and integrative care. Our comprehensive oral microbiome test helps you:

Engage & educate your patients with user-friendly results
Practice oral-systemic care with overall health insights
Improve patient health outcomes with in-office & at-home protocols

Sign up to get started

Trusted by leading dental offices

The Most Comprehensive, Root-Cause Salivary Test

Bristle analyzes the complete oral microbiome - all 800+ species of beneficial (good) and pathogenic (bad) bacteria & fungi - with a single saliva test.

Root-Cause Oral Health Insights

Identify the bacteria responsible for cavities and gum disease — plus the good bugs that promote better health.

Gum Inflammation

At Risk

SCORE

9.2/10

Your bacteria related to Gum Inflammation

Porphyromonas gingivalis
8.9/10
Fusobacterium nucleatum
2.3/10
Prevotella intermedia
7.6/10

Oral-Systemic Connections

Get insights into gut health, nitric oxide, and associations between oral bacteria & systemic diseases.

At Risk

Bad Breath

SCORE 8.2/10

Average

Gut Impact

SCORE 4.7/10

Optimal

Nitric Oxide

SCORE 8.6/10

Personalized Care, Better Outcomes

Get care guidance based on patient results to optimize your treatment plans.

Better Results for You & Your Patients

Benefits to Patients

Improved health outcomes through root-cause care
Deeper understanding of their oral health and impact on overall health
A differentiated, personalized care experience

Benefits to Clinicians

Improve patient education and compliance with clear, evidence-based results
Practice oral-systemic care
Get precise oral microbiome insights to optimize treatment planning

Benefits to Practices

Differentiate your practice and attract new patients
Strengthen patient loyalty and trust through personalized, evidence-based, treatment planning
Grow through case acceptance and increase in adjunct therapies

Best-in-class technology so you can provide best-in-class care

Other Tests

Detect all bacteria and fungi (good and bad)

Insight into multiple oral health conditions

Oral and systemic biomarkers

Patient-friendly test results

Tailored care guidance & coaching support

Streamlined Workflow to Save You Time

Convenient testing fits into your existing workflow

1. Collect Sample

Takes 1 minute during appointment.
2. Register Online

Register the patient sample in your Bristle account.
3. Ship Sample

Use prepaid return envelope to submit sample for processing.
4. Receive Results

Get test report online in 2 weeks.
5. Deliver Care Plan

Easily send results & your care plan to patient.

Who should you test?

New Patients

Establish a baseline from day one and deliver integrative, preventative care.
Perio Patients

Identify biofilm imbalances, customize therapies, and track progress
Caries Patients

Pinpoint root-cause for recurrent cavities and tailor interventions to reduce decay
Patients with Systemic Conditions

Address oral-systemic links that can exacerbate chronic health issues.
Halitosis Patients

Directly target odor-causing bacteria to help patients regain confidence.
Refractory Patients

Reveal underlying risk causing refractory cases and modify treatment plan

We’re your partner every step of the way

Step 1

Sign up

Fill out the form and speak with our team. We’ll onboard you & answer any questions.

Step 2

Start Testing

Order test kits for your office with discounted professional pricing. Only pay for tests you used.

Step 3

Get Ongoing Support

Receive free team training, implementation support, and consultations to help interpret patient test results.

Sign up to get started

Developed in collaboration with leading dentists

Dr. Mark Burhenne, DDS

Functional Dentist | Founder of Askthedentist.com

Dr. Miles Madison, DDS

Periodontist | Owner Beverly Hills Periodontal Institute

Amber Auger, RDH

RDH, Speaker, Author | Founder, Thrive in the Op and The Functional RDH

Dr. Eric Pulver, DDS

Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon | Chief Dental Officer at Denti.ai

Dr. Roshan Parikh, DDS

General Dentist | President & CEO at Dntl Bar

Kriston Reisnour, RDH

BSDH, CCSH, CSOM, FAAOSH Dental Hygienist & Integrative Health Specialist

Dr. Jonathan Levine, DDS

Prosthodontist, NYU Professor | Founder of GLO Science

Dr. Chris Standburg, DDS

Dentist | Vision Dental

“Since adding Bristle testing to my practice, I have seen tremendous results.

Patients have more information and data, which can be very motivating, and we now have metrics to determine if our treatments and protocols are actually shifting things toward health and balance in their children. I am so excited to see where Oral Microbiome research is headed, and Bristle is certainly paving the way toward better patient outcomes and understanding root cause issues within our patients.”

Dr. Staci Whitman

Pediatric Dentist | NoPo Kids Dentistry, Co-Founder of Fygg

“Bristle is the future of oral health care.

With a simple noninvasive saliva test, we can assess patients' periodontal and caries risk rather than just waiting for bone loss and decay. Why wait for a heart attack or stroke to treat cardiovascular diseases if you see elevated biomarkers in blood tests? The same should be true in the future for dental care.”

Dr. Jennifer Chiang, DDS

Functional Dentist | Owner, Jennifer Chiang, DDS

“Bristle provides more actionable information than any other salivary diagnostics on the market.

Bristle salivary testing has been an incredible resource in customizing our periodontal therapies and shifting the microbiome for sustainable long-term changes with our patients. Or in some cases identifying when underlying medical issues are factors. This has made the difference for our patients."

Dr. Bryce Wilen

Dentist, Owner | Ivory FD

“Not another salivary test is as comprehensive Bristle.

It allows me to share a broad view of positive and negative factors as well as a very detailed look. Candida is also important to me to share with patients. I love the report furnished to our office and to the patient. It has been very helpful to share to our patient's referring providers.”

Janice Rountree, RDH

Dental Hygienist | Wellspring Dental

"The Bristle test has shifted my treatment mindset from "kill mode" to "build and balance mode."

Customizing patient treatment at a microbial level is the future of comprehensive dental care. Patients are becoming increasingly aware of the oral systemic connection and having a clear picture of their risk for disease helps us collaborate to create a pathway to health."

Monica Crenshaw, RDH

Dental Hygienist | O'Shea Dentistry

Professional FAQs

What does the Bristle test look for?

Bristle profiles the complete oral microbiome - the makeup of 800+ bacteria and fungi in the mouth including all beneficial and harmful species. The Bristle test is the most comprehensive available and identifies all microbes present in your oral microbiome.

The test provides summary insights into 7 different conditions/categories based on the species detected and their levels: Beneficial Bacteria, Tooth Decay, Gum Inflammation, Halitosis (Bad Breath), Gut Impact, Nitric Oxide, and Diversity.

How many microbes does Bristle detect?

Bristle offers the most advanced and comprehensive oral microbiome test available, analyzing all 800+ species of bacteria and fungi found in the mouth.

On average, an individual has 50-150 unique species in their mouth. Each report includes a breakdown of all species detected, their levels, and connections to oral/systemic health.

What technology does the Bristle test use?

Bristle uses a technology called shotgun metagenomic sequencing to profile the entire oral microbiome. We sequence the DNA of all microbes (bacteria, fungi) present in a saliva sample.

This technology allows the detection of all species present in a patient saliva sample, both beneficial and pathogenic, rather than just a handful of species (~10-20) with qPCR-based tests.

You can find a more in-depth comparison of these different test types & sequencing technologies here.

How long after collection does the sample need to be shipped?

The sample can be shipped up to ~1 month after it has been collected. Each collection tube comes with a clear liquid solution in it already (a stabilization buffer) that preserves the saliva sample at time of collection. You can keep the sample at room temperature (no refrigeration required) prior to shipping.

With that said, we do recommend shipping back the sample as soon as possible after collection so that your team can receive the test results in a timely fashion.

Do you have any information on your test’s accuracy and how it was developed?

See here for our White Paper which includes details about our test’s development, data, and accuracy from our research study with the University of the Pacific Dugoni School of Dentistry.

Do you analyze or store human DNA?

Each saliva sample goes through a process known as "host depletion" where we attempt to remove as much human DNA as possible so that we can get the most signal from the microbiome.

After sequencing, we use bioinformatic methods to remove all human DNA from analysis and store only data related to bacteria, viruses, and fungi from a given sample.