Gum Disease Diagnosis Through Saliva Testing

January 25th, 2008

The bad news of having gum is depressing enough but scientists think and they are developing a quick and painless method to determine gum disease if a person has it, and also how advanced it might be. The technique involves a new instrument that analyzes enzymes in a small sample of saliva, and results appear in a matter of minutes. The pocket-size device measures protein biomarkers that tell how long the person has had the disease and how far it has spread. The instrument is created by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico as part of its lab-on-a-chip diagnostic technologies, and a team at the University of Michigan put it through clinical trials with patients. The device detected gum disease much quicker than traditional methods and it is considered much less invasive. Researchers look at it as a more accurate way of diagnosing gum disease.