USING SALIVA TO HELP DIAGNOSE AND ASSESS PATIENT’S HEALTH; BOTH IN MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY by Dona Fujioka

Salivary diagnostics has been an ongoing and developing technology used to assess and diagnose a person’s health. It has been found that the saliva provides many of the same molecules found in the systemic system. These include tissue levels of natural substances, and large variety of molecules introduced into the body for therapeutic, dependency or recreational purposes, emotional status, hormonal status, immunological status, neurological effects and nutritional and metabolic influences. Collection of saliva has been made so easy for the clinician, that a saliva sample could be collected in a minimum amount of time.

Salivary diagnostics is currently used to diagnose diseases or conditions based on certain biomarkers present in the saliva. Among these conditions are cardiovascular disease, diabetes, pancreatic cancer, and viral and autoimmune diseases. In dentistry, saliva is used to test for the presence of HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), which is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States. There are more than 100 different HPV types. HPV-16 and -18 are the high-risk types associated with oropharyngeal cancer. It is the 10th most common malignancy, with more than 30,000 diagnoses yearly. There is a 50% survival rate, killing one American every hour. The survival rate is the lowest of the major cancer sites.

Another disease diagnosed in dentistry is periodontal disease. There are now tests that allow us to find out the person’s susceptibility to periodontal disease (My PerioID). A test is also available to determine the pathogens or bacteria involved in causing the infection (My PerioPath). Identifying the specific pathogens allow us to treat the condition with antibiotics specific to the bacteria present. A more personalized therapy will yield a better outcome.

With the ease in collecting saliva, salivary diagnostics is an avenue that should be implemented to help assess a person’s health. Determining a person’s systemic susceptibility to oral disease allows for early detection and treatment of diseases.


SOURCE: Salivary Diagnostics in Medicine & Dentistry: A Review
Herbert I. Bader DDS