Determining the Reproducibility of a Diagnostic Saliva Panel for Periodontal Disease

Abstract This proposal requests a 1-year grant from Delta Dental Research Foundation to further the evaluation of a salivary diagnostic panel for the identification of features of periodontal disease. Funding will support the study of unstimulated whole expectorated saliva from 102 adults (34 healthy, 34 gingivitis, 34 periodontitis) whose relevant demographic, behavioral, oral hygiene care, and clinical information is collected. The saliva specimens from a single visit will be analyzed for seven host response proteins and six specific oral bacteria. These protein biomarkers and bacterial species were selected based on robust findings from our prior studies, which were funded via Delta Dental and the NIH, indicating their high sensitivity and specificity to act as a panel for discriminating periodontitis from health and gingivitis. The primary outcome is the reproducibility of a salivary diagnostic panel and/or risk calculator that contains the fewest number of analytes that can discriminate health and gingivitis from periodontal disease with >95% sensitivity and >95% specificity.