1Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Career Post Graduate Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Lucknow, UP
2Senior Lecturer, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Surendera Dental College and Research Institute, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan
3Senior Lecturer, Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Surendera Dental College and Research Institute, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan
4Senior Lecturer, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Sardar Patel Post Graduate Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences, Lucknow, UP
5Post Graduate Student, Department of Periodontics and Implantology, Sardar Patel Post Graduate Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences, Lucknow, UP
Online published on 6 March, 2013.
As a diagnostic fluid, saliva offers distinctive advantages over serum because it can be collected non-invasively by individuals with modest training. 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.
Saliva, Salivary gland, Systemic disease
