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. 2021 Mar 22;11(3):571.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11030571.

Oral Diagnostic Methods for the Detection of Periodontal Disease

Liza L Ramenzoni  1   2 , Marc P Lehner  1 , Manuela E Kaufmann  1 , Daniel Wiedemeier  3 , Thomas Attin  1 , Patrick R Schmidlin  1   2
Affiliations

Oral Diagnostic Methods for the Detection of Periodontal Disease

Liza L Ramenzoni et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

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.

Keywords: biomarkers; oral disease; periodontitis; point-of-care diagnostics; saliva.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interests in this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Reagent strip (Combur9-Test Cobas test strips) performed on saliva samples in order to determine: pH, leukocytes, erythrocytes, levels of nitrites, proteins, glucose, ketone bodies, urobilinogen, and bilirubin. (A) Blank test strip; (B) control with 10 µL water/test field each; (C) saliva sample 10 µL/test field each; (D) color reference.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison between lactoferrin measurements in stimulated and unstimulated saliva samples from healthy and stage III grade B generalized periodontal patients.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Marker load (%) of known pathogenic markers for periodontal bacterial species tested in healthy and periodontal patients. TML: Total marker load.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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