Saliva diagnostics: utilizing oral fluids to determine health status

Imagine a time where your health status could be available to you without the pain, discomfort and inconvenience of a physical examination. Distant vision of an inconceivable future or impending reality with potentially immeasurable impact? Recent advancements in the field of molecular diagnostics indicate this is not only possible, but closer than we think. Novel discoveries and substantial advancements have revealed that saliva may contain real-time information describing our overall physiological condition. Researchers are now reporting that, like blood and tissue biopsies, oral fluids could be a source of biochemical data capable of detecting certain diseases. What is even more intriguing is that this phenomenon not only applies to local disorders like oral cancer and Sjögren's syndrome, but distant pathologies like autoimmune, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases as well as viral/bacterial infections and even some cancers. These revelations have provided a foundation for the burgeoning field of salivary diagnostics and hence spurred the onset of investigations poised at deciphering the salivary milieu. This paper overviews salivary diagnostics from biomarker development to the multitude of techniques utilized in identifying saliva-based molecular indicators of disease. In doing so, we present oral fluids as an easily accessible noninvasive alternative to traditional diagnostic avenues and not just an essential component of the digestive process. Determining saliva as a credible means of evaluating health status represents a considerable leap forward in health care, one that could lead to enormous translational advantages and significant clinical opportunities.