Periodontal disease, one of the prevalent oral diseases, is characterized by gingival inflammation and periodontal tissue destruction. Diagnosing this disease is challenging to the clinicians as the disease process is discontinuous and shows periods of exacerbation and remission. Traditional diagnostic methods basically tells about the past tissue destruction so new diagnostic methods are required which is able to detect the active state of the disease, determine the future progression and also estimates the response to the therapy, thereby helping in the better clinical management of the patient. Both saliva and Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) are believed to be reliable medium to detect the biomarkers which plays a pivotal role in measuring the disease activity. Keeping these observations in mind rapid chairside tests are developed to diagnose periodontal disease called as Point of Care (POC) diagnostics which simplifies diagnosis and helps in improving the prognosis. This review article highlights about the biomarkers used in the diagnosis and throws light on the various available point of care diagnostic devices.
Being one of the prevalent oral diseases, periodontal disease is marked by the presence of gingival inflammation and periodontal tissue destruction. Recently, there is a paradigm shift in the understanding of periodontal disease; it is now believed to be episodic in nature, showing periods of activity and inactivity. Thereby, posing a challenge for clinicians to diagnose this. Conventional diagnostic methods basically measure past tissue destruction, arising the need for new diagnostic methods that should be able to detect active sites of destruction, predict future progression, and determine the response to the therapy thus, leading to early diagnosis and better cure for the patient. One such advance is the development of point-of-care devices, which are rapid chair-side testing methods. These devices are already in use in healthcare services, a common example being home-used pregnancy test strips. This point-of-care technology is now expanding its arms in periodontics as well, thus simplifying diagnosis and improving the therapeutic outcomes of the patient. In light of the above facts, this chapter throws light on periodontal diagnosis and various commercially available point-of-care devices.
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