Salivary diagnostics. Biomarkers identification and validation for systemic and oral diseases

The last 20 years have been characterized by substantial progression in the science and technologies applied to salivary diagnostics. The incorporation of such discipline into the clinical practice of medicine and dentistry mainly depends on the development of point‑of‑care (POC) and lab-on-a-chip (LOC) diagnostics; these two paradigms would likely allow patients and healthcare providers to gain rapid and cost-effective medical analytical information by use of bedside or biochip integrated devices, for diseases diagnosis and monitoring. The aim of the present Thesis is to present translational data about salivary biomarkers and their potential application in clinical setting. An update of the current knowledge about salivary diagnostics is also provided.