Oral Diagnostic Methods for the Detection of Periodontal Disease

Abstract

Periodontitis is a common immune-inflammatory oral disease. Early detection plays an important role in its prevention and progression. Saliva is a reliable medium that mirrors periodontal health and is easily obtainable for identifying periodontal biomarkers in point-of-care diagnostics. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of diagnostic salivary tests to determine periodontal status. Whole saliva (stimulated/unstimulated) from twenty healthy and twenty stage III grade B generalized periodontitis patients was tested for lactoferrin, alkaline phosphatase, calcium, density, osmolarity, pH, phosphate, buffer capacity, salivary flow rate and dynamic viscosity. A semi-quantitative urinary strip test was used to evaluate markers of inflammation in saliva (erythrocytes, leukocytes, urobilinogen, nitrite, glucose, bilirubin, and ketones), clinical periodontal parameters and pathogenic bacteria. Concentrations of lactoferrin, hemoglobin, and leukocytes were found to be significantly higher in the stimulated and unstimulated saliva in periodontitis patients compared to healthy patients, whereas alkaline phosphatase levels were higher in unstimulated saliva of periodontitis patients (p < 0.05). Periodontal biomarker analysis using test strips may be considered rapid and easy tool for distinguishing between periodontitis and healthy patients. The increase in lactoferrin, hemoglobin, and leucocytes—determined by strip tests—may provide a non-invasive method of periodontal diagnosis.

Obtaining a Reliable Diagnostic Biomarker for Diabetes Mellitus by Standardizing Salivary Glucose Measurements

“…Dhanya et al [ 31 ] found that the salivary glucose level collected under unstimulated settings is higher than that collected under stimulated conditions, which is compatible with the findings of this study. Other investigations have demonstrated that the salivary glucose level collected under unstimulated and stimulated settings does not significantly differ [ 39 ]. Because individuals may not readily accept stimulation and stimulated saliva contains more water than unstimulated saliva, unstimulated saliva may be a better indicator of normal physiological condition.…”

Salivary Biomarkers in Patients with Sjögren’s Syndrome—A Systematic Review

“…Those data indicated that elevation of salivary lactoferrin is associated with lymphocytic infiltration on salivary glands and the immune imbalance that occurs in SS. However, salivary lactoferrin levels had been elevated in other conditions, such as periodontitis and SLE, suggesting a lack of specificity for biomarkers for SS [ 38 , 39 ].…”

Automatic Segmentation of Periodontal Tissue Ultrasound Images with Artificial Intelligence: A Novel Method for Improving Dataset Quality

“…The diagnosis process is complex, time consuming, and based on manual periodontal probing, which is operator dependent [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ] and on radiological investigations, which are invasive and provide a lack of soft tissue contrast [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Other investigations that may add value to the diagnosis process are periodontal biomarker analysis [ 11 ] and microbiological analysis [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Due to the evolution of technology, periodontal tissue imaging has started to play a key role in periodontal disease diagnosis.…”