Algorithmic-Scoring Family · Flagship Panel

Balance Test.

Our most complete picture of oral health. Sixteen bacteria and yeast - including the 'good' bacteria that protect the mouth - combined into one easy balance score, alongside gum and cavity risk. It shows not just what's wrong, but how resilient the mouth is.

Our most complete microbiome assay: sixteen organisms — core periodontal pathogens, cariogenic taxa, Candida, protective commensals, and narG nitrate-reducers — integrated into the 0–100 Oral Balance Score plus three subscores, quantifying dysbiotic pressure and protective/resilience capacity together.

Test your oral health See sample reports How the Balance Test works Talk to our team

What this panel is

Built for a specific clinical question.

The Balance Test is our fullest picture of oral health. It measures sixteen bacteria and yeast - not just the harmful ones, but the 'good' bacteria that keep the mouth healthy - and brings them together into one easy-to-read balance score.

Alongside the usual gum and cavity risk, it shows the mouth's protective side: how strong the helpful bacteria are, how much pressure the harmful ones are putting on, and the bacteria tied to circulation and healing. The result is a read on resilience, not just disease - useful for complex care and whole-body health, where a healthy, balanced mouth matters most.

The Balance Test is OraPath's fullest microbiome readout, measuring sixteen organisms across both the pathogenic and protective sides of the ecosystem. Beyond periodontal and caries risk, it quantifies protective commensal capacity and the enterosalivary nitric-oxide pathway.

Results integrate into a four-score architecture: the 0–100 Oral Balance Score plus the Protective Capacity, Disruptive Pressure, and Nitric Oxide System subscores. It reports resilience, not just disease burden — useful for complex, longitudinal, and oral-systemic care where protective capacity is clinically relevant.

Clinical fit

When the Balance Test is right.

Practices using saliva testing as a deep part of their care
Complex cases where the mouth's protective side is part of the question
Heart-health, whole-body, and inflammation-related care
Patients on immune-suppressing treatment or with known imbalance
Tracking treatment across both the harmful and protective sides
Cases where the main concern isn't necessarily the gums

Report contents

What the report contains.

An Oral Balance Score (0-100): one easy number for the mouth's overall balance, explained
A Protective Capacity score for the 'good' bacteria and the mouth's natural resilience
A Disruptive Pressure score, broken down by gum, cavity, and yeast contributions
A Nitric Oxide score for the bacteria tied to circulation and healing
A 1-5 gum-disease risk score with its bacterial pattern
A cavity-risk rating
Clear flags for notable combinations and severity
A full reading for all 16 bacteria and yeast
A short, prioritized list of what to focus on for this patient
An easy guide to how the bacteria levels are reported

Sample reports

How the panel reads across clinical scenarios.

Three real examples showing how protective and harmful forces play out differently from patient to patient.

Well-balanced case

Plenty of protective bacteria, healthy circulation-supporting function, and very few harmful bacteria. The balance score lands in the healthy range.

View sample PDF →

Disrupted-but-protected case

Real gum-disease bacteria are present and the harmful pressure is up - but strong protective bacteria are holding the line, keeping the protective score above the floor.

View sample PDF →

Compromised case

Protective bacteria are depleted, circulation-supporting function is weakened, and harmful gum and cavity bacteria are up. The harmful side is outpacing the mouth's defenses.

View sample PDF →

See all sample reports

The details

What to know about this test.

Panel: Balance Test
Family: Algorithmic-Scoring
Sample: A quick saliva sample, collected chairside in under two minutes; A simple saliva sample you collect at home in under two minutes
How it works: A DNA-based saliva test that identifies the bacteria present and how much of each
What's measured: 16 (6 core perio + 2 caries + Candida + 3 protective commensals + 4 nitric oxide-producing)
Report: Balance Test (with on-demand PerioCaries and Antibiotic Considerations renderers available)
Results: Back in two business days, posted to your OraPath account
Where it's run: In our own CLIA- and COLA-accredited lab (IMMYLabs), under the standards that govern clinical testing
Reading the levels: Each organism is reported on a clear scale — from not detected to high — so you can see what's driving the result at a glance
Price (chairside): $165 per test
Price (at-home): $199

Volume and group pricing is available for multi-provider practices and DSOs. Talk to our team.

How we read it

How we turn the results into a clear clinical picture.

The Balance Test combines several readings into one. It scores the harmful side (gum, cavity, and yeast pressure) and the protective side (the helpful bacteria and the mouth's resilience), then blends them into the Oral Balance Score from 0-100. It also tracks the bacteria tied to circulation and healing. Each part is reported on its own and rolled into the headline score, so you can see both what's wrong and how well the mouth can bounce back.

The Balance Test integrates a four-score architecture. The Disruptive Pressure Score aggregates periodontal, cariogenic, and fungal load; the Protective Capacity Score combines commensal Streptococcus abundance with narG-derived functional resilience; the Nitric Oxide System Score quantifies enterosalivary nitrate-reduction capacity.

These resolve into the headline 0–100 Oral Balance Score with five bands. PRS, PPS, and caries risk report alongside, so disease burden and resilience are both visible and trend together over time.

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