Volatile organic compounds in mouth air and saliva are useful in diagnosis of several systemic pathologies. Specific oral metabolites (ammonia, urea, volatile sulphur compounds) have been suggested as possible diagnostic and contributory factors to the etiology or pathogenesis of periodontitis. In this study, volatile organic compounds are characterized by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry from the headspace of incubated whole saliva from subjects with essentially normal oral health and subjects with moderate to severe periodontitis as rated by four oral health indices. Several compounds including aliphatic and aromatic alcohols, indole and dimethyl dLsulfide appear common to all subjects. Moreover, aromatic nitrogen containing compounds, i.e., pyridine and picolines, appear only in subjects with moderate to severe periodontitis. The occurrence of pyridine and picolines in the salivary volatiles of diseased subjects suggests that they are related to the disease process.

Volatile chemicals were isolated from mouth air and from incubated whole saliva of 5‐matched pairs of male subjects who participated in a 30‐day experimental gingivitis protocol. Endogenous oral chemicals were monitored by GC/MS and GC/FPD during the test period. Malodorous sulfur compounds of mouth air were found to increase quantitatively in subjects with gingivitis as compared to control subjects. Salivary volatile production increased with deterioration in gingival health and, conversely, decreased with maintenance of optimal periodontal condition.