Salivary Tests for Mass Screening of Periodontal Disease

Objectives: Reliable and elegant screening measurements are essential to promote professional interventions for prevention of periodontal disease in Japan. The aim of this study was to estimate the properties of salivary lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) and occult blood tests in periodontal screening. Methods: A total of 228 adults (100 males and 128 females, Age: 53.7±14.0 yrs old, range: 24-85 yrs old) were recruited to the study at a community health center or dental offices in Iwate Prefecture. After collection of paraffin-stimulated saliva, periodontal state was examined by the CPI criteria. The saliva samples were transported to a medical laboratory and analyzed for LDH (U/L) and hemoglobin (Hb, mg/dL) levels. Results: The individual CPI scores distributed as code 0: 15.8%, code 1: 9.65%, code 2: 21.9%, code 3: 35.1% and code 4:17.5%. The CPI scores 1-4 correlated positively with the salivary levels of LDH (r = 0.918) and Hb (r = 0.907) with statistical significance at p = 0.05. The sensitivities of salivary LDH level (threshold = 400 U/L) and Hb conctents (threshold = 2.0 mg/dL) were 0.89 and 0.84, respectively, in screening of persons with CPI scores 3 or 4 indicating progressed periodontitis. Conclusions: In conclusion, it was suggested that the sensitivities of salivary LDH and occult blood tests are high and could be efficient measures for mass periodontal screening.