Objectives: Saliva is an easily collected fluid that contains locally- and systemically-derived markers of periodontal disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the constituents of saliva and periodontal clinical conditions in periodontal disease patients at various stages of periodontal therapy. Methods: 129 patients with chronic periodontitis (mean age 51.2) were recruited and consented to participate in this study. TBI, scaling and root planing (SRP) were performed and the salivary constituents (periodontopathic bacteria (P.g, P.i, B.f, A.a), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), free hemoglobin (f-Hb), GOT, GPT) and clinical parameters (plaque index (PlI), gingival index(GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL) ) were measured at each time point (initial examination, 4, 8 and 12 weeks after SRP). To detect periodontopathic bacteria , a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was employed. The relationship between variations in salivary constituents and changes of clinical indices were analyzed using ANOVA and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The average value of PD, CAL and BOP reduced immediately after SRP and the prevalence of periodontopathic bacteria, LDH and ALP activities, and f-Hb values also decreased. In particular, we observed significant correlations between salivary LDH activity and PD and BOP (p<0.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that detection of periodontopathic bacteria and analysis of certain enzyme activities in whole saliva are useful for evaluating the periodontal condition and monitoring the response to treatment.

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