Feasibility of using saliva samples and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for dental screening during pandemic

Abstract

Recent studies show that dental caries affect more than half of the adult population globally, with the socially disadvantaged groups being majorly affected. The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LiBS) as a method of early caries screening in adults through the detection of caries elements dissolved in saliva. This experiment involved 25 students of School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Parameters that are considered in this study are pH of the saliva and spectroscopic analysis of other elements such as Na and Ca. The data were statistically analysed to evaluate the significance differences of these elements in all group levels by using One-Way ANOVA. Results show that there is a significant difference in Calcium and Sodium intensity values between the mild, moderate, and severe caries groups. Additionally, pH level also shows a significant difference between the groups. This research concluded that LIBS allows for absolute and quantitative analysis of elements contained in saliva without examining patients’ teeths and is useful as a fast and accurate oral health screening method for the community as LiBS could provide not only caries detection but also determining the caries severity level. Thus, this investigation proves that analysis of saliva samples using LiBS can be an alternative or future method in screening dental caries and applicable especially during pandemic situations.