Over a hundred years ago, renowned MD Charles Mayo stated that the future of medicine and disease prevention lies in and must be in the hands of dentists. Historically, dentists have not followed the medical profession in monitoring patient health through traditional diagnostic testing.
In recent years, there has been a movement among dentists to become more closely involved in the overall health of their patients. One of the key means to achieve this goal is to perform basic diagnostic tests to monitor and detect disease. This movement is putting Dr. Mayo’s vision into practice. To effectively reintegrate dentistry into the medical field, a mechanism could be established that uses saliva as a vehicle for patient monitoring, screening, diagnosis, and collaboration to gain diagnostic insights and engage in proactive interactions with healthcare providers.
Saliva is a clear, heterogeneous biofluid composed of water, proteins, nucleic acids, and inorganic components. On average, each person produces 0.5 to 1.5 liters of saliva per day.1 The versatility of saliva allows it to facilitate digestion, swallowing, tasting, lubricate, and act as a protective barrier against pathogens. Saliva contains proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, and macromolecules, making it an ideal sample type for screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of disease.
Over the past decade, it has become clear that saliva can serve as a mirror of the body, as the majority of its fluid components are derived from blood. Therefore, saliva reflects natural substances and macromolecules produced during health and disease. Like saliva, blood is a complex body fluid that contains a variety of molecular analytes, including hormones, antibodies, inflammatory markers, and defense molecules. While blood, serum, and plasma have traditionally been considered the gold standard for measuring biomarkers, saliva is a viable and often equivalent alternative biospecimen.
The procedures required to collect, transport, store, and ultimately analyze blood for medical and dental purposes can be expensive, cumbersome, and physically invasive. In contrast, saliva has the advantage of being simple to collect and can be performed by anyone without specialized training or equipment. The collection process is non-invasive and painless, and sample handling is safer, especially with the use of collection equipment that has preservatives and stabilizing solutions that neutralize pathogens and preserve target analytes.
Once stabilized, samples can be shipped at room temperature and are simple to store. Overall, the procedures for collecting, transporting, storing, and analyzing saliva are less expensive than blood and reduce overall costs for patients and providers.
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