Abstracto

Role of Saliva in Dental Practice - A Review

Bhumika Badiyani, Amit Kumar, Viral Pravin Maru

As a diagnostic fluid, saliva offers distinctive advantages over serum because it can be collected non-invasively by individuals with modest training. Furthermore, saliva may provide a cost-effective approach for the screening of large populations. Gland-specific saliva can be used for diagnosis of pathology specific to one of the major salivary glands. Whole saliva, however, is most frequently used for diagnosis of systemic diseases, since it is readily collected and contains serum constituents. Analysis of saliva may be useful for the diagnosis of hereditary disorders, autoimmune diseases, malignant and infectious diseases, and endocrine disorders, as well as in the assessment of therapeutic levels of drugs and the monitoring of illicit drug use.