Alexandria, VA – A symposium demonstrating how the current evidence on salivary markers may be potential tools to detect periodontal treatment need and to predict periodontal treatment outcome will be presented at the 101st General Session of the IADR, which will be held in conjunction with the 9th Meeting of the Latin American Region and the 12th World Congress on Preventive Dentistry on June 21-24, 2023, in Bogotá, Colombia.
Periodontitis is one of the main causes for tooth loss and affecting billions of people worldwide. This infectious disease has an inflammatory character, where chronic and uncontrolled immune inflammatory responses initiate the process that leads to destruction of tooth-supporting tissues and, if untreated, eventually to tooth loss. Supportive tissue damage around the tooth can be measured by using clinical or radiographical indices. The salivary presence of periodontal pathogens, which initiate the inflammatory conditions in periodontal tissues, is associated with periodontitis. During the onset and progress of periodontitis, inflammatory markers are released from cells of the periodontium. Elevated levels of enzymes, cytokines, and biomarkers of connective tissue destruction and bone turnover can be found in saliva of periodontitis patients in comparison to their controls.
Furthermore, there is considerable interest in applying sequencing and genotyping studies in various human populations. Whole blood is then the traditional sample of choice; however, obtaining a blood sample is an invasive procedure that requires training in phlebotomy. However, saliva offers an efficient source for genetic information. It has been demonstrated that, compared with cheek swabs, saliva samples provide a substantial increase in the amount of human DNA.
This symposium will aim to demonstrate the current evidence on salivary markers as having the potential to detect periodontal treatment need and to predict periodontal treatment outcome. It will include the following presentations:
- “Maximum Impact Using Early Detection: Decoding Saliva” by Aylin Baysan of Queen Mary University of London, UK
- “The Mouth- A Window to Covid-19 Infection” by Mark Cayabyab of Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
- “Are Salivary Diagnostics Next Generation Innovation?” by Ulvi Kahraman Gursoy of the University of Turku, Finland
The symposium, “Decoding Saliva: A Versatile Detection Tool for Tailored Patient Care” will take place on Friday, June 23 at 11 a.m. COT (UTC-05:00).
About IADR
The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to drive dental, oral, and craniofacial research for health and well-being worldwide. IADR represents the individual scientists, clinician-scientists, dental professionals, and students based in academic, government, non-profit and private-sector institutions who share our mission. Learn more at www.iadr.org.