Efficiency of Salivary Multi-test System for Periodontal Disease Screening

Objectives: In order to achieve a comprehensive oral health assessment at chair-side, a new salivary multi-test system has been developed. This system can measure seven saliva analytes detecting color changes of the test strip as reflectance value: [Dental caries] number of cariogenic bacteria, pH and buffer capacity, [Periodontal disease] blood, leukocyte and protein, [Oral cleanliness] ammonia. In our previous studies, we have revealed that the reflectance value of each analyte was associated with oral conditions (2013, 2014 IADR general session). In this study, we focused on periodontal disease and evaluated the efficiency of this system for periodontal disease screening in health checkups.
Methods: Oral rinse samples (3ml of diluted water, 10 sec rinse) were collected from 284 subjects participated in a health checkup at Hitachi Health Care Center (Ibaraki, Japan). The sample was dropped on the test strip and the reflectance value of each analyte (blood, leukocyte and protein) was measured by this system. After collecting samples, probing pocket depth (PPD) was measured. The associations between these reflectance values and the PPD were assessed by t-test. The cutoff-point of each saliva analyte was also set by ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis and the test score (positive/negative) of each saliva analyte was determined using the cutoff-point. Then, the association between the test score and the PPD was assessed by calculating odds ratio (OR).
Results: The reflectance value of blood, leukocyte and protein were significantly different between the subjects with PPD ≥4mm and those with PPD <4mm. Compared to the subjects who did not have positive score as determined by the cutoff-point of each analyte, those who had one or more positive scores had significantly higher ORs (1-positive; OR=2.8, 2-positive; OR=7.3, 3-positive; OR=8.2).
Conclusions: It was suggested that the newly-developed salivary multi-test system was a useful tool for periodontal disease screening in health checkups.