Saliva has emerged as a powerful diagnostic tool due to its non-invasive collection, straightforward storage, and ability to mirror systemic health. This narrative review explores the diagnostic potential of salivary biomarkers in detecting systemic diseases, supported by examples such as salivary proteomics’ role in monitoring endocrine disorders, cancer, and viral infections. Advances in technologies like microfluidics, biosensors, and next-generation sequencing have enhanced the sensitivity and specificity of salivary diagnostics, making it a viable alternative to blood-based diagnostics. The review also evaluates challenges such as the need for standardized collection protocols, variability in salivary composition, and the integration of these technologies into clinical workflows. The findings emphasize the transformative potential of saliva in personalized medicine, especially for early disease detection and real-time health monitoring. Practical applications include its use in mass screenings and public health crises, highlighting saliva as a cornerstone for future advancements in non-invasive diagnostics.

Dentists and dental staff have an increased risk of airborne infection with pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 since they are exposed to high levels of droplets and aerosols produced during specific dental procedures. Hence, new guidelines such as patient screening and temperature control, air purification, space, surface and hand sanitizing and the use of protective equipment and physical barriers have been successfully implemented. In addition, the use of teledentistry has expanded considerably in pediatric dentistry, orthodontics, oral medicine and periodontics in order to address oral and dental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic while minimizing virus transmission. Thus, teleconsultation, telediagnosis, teletriage, teletreatment and telemonitoring have emerged as valuable tools not only in the delivery of care, but also in the academic and research training of dental health professionals. This narrative review summarizes the current literature on the impact of the pandemic on dental care, dental staff and dental education, with an emphasis on how newly emerging protocols and technologies can be successfully utilized as integral parts of various branches of the dental practice and their future implications without compromising patient care.

By correctly repositioning teeth, orthodontic therapy improves both the function and appearance of an occlusion. The relationship between teeth and the tissues that surround and support them significantly influences these alterations. With ever more adults seeking orthodontic care, orthodontists are increasingly seeing patients with periodontal issues. Concerns about the patient’s appearance, such as uneven gingival margins or functional issues caused by inflammatory periodontal diseases, should be accounted for when designing orthodontic treatment plans. Furthermore, orthodontics may increase the chances of saving and recovering a degraded dentition in cases of severe periodontitis. Today, general dentists, dontists, and orthodontists play integrative roles that enable them to achieve the best possible results for their patients. This review will improve the results of interdisciplinary treatments and increase cooperation between dental specialists by drawing attention to the essential connection between orthodontics and periodontics in regular clinical practice.

Placing antimicrobial treatments directly in periodontal pockets is an example of the local administration of antimicrobial drugs to treat periodontitis. This method of therapy is advantageous since the drug concentration after application far surpasses the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and lasts for a number of weeks. As a result, numerous local drug delivery systems (LDDSs) utilizing various antibiotics or antiseptics have been created. There is constant effort to develop novel formulations for the localized administration of periodontitis treatments, some of which have failed to show any efficacy while others show promise. Thus, future research should focus on the way LDDSs can be personalized in order to optimize future clinical protocols in periodontal therapy.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in healthcare, including dental and periodontal diagnostics, due to its ability to analyze complex datasets with speed and precision. Backgrounds and Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the reliability of AI-assisted dental–periodontal diagnoses compared to diagnoses made by senior specialists, specialists, and general dentists. Material and Methods: A comparative study was conducted involving 60 practitioners divided into three groups—general dentists, specialists, and senior specialists—along with an AI diagnostic system (Planmeca Romexis 6.4.7.software). Participants evaluated six high-quality panoramic radiographic images representing various dental and periodontal conditions. Diagnoses were compared against a reference “gold standard” validated by a dental imaging expert and senior clinician. A statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0, applying chi-square tests, ANOVA, and Bonferroni correction to ensure robust results. Results: AI’s consistency in identifying subtle conditions was comparable to that of senior specialists, while general dentists showed greater variability in their evaluations. The key findings revealed that AI and senior specialists consistently demonstrated the highest performance in detecting attachment loss and alveolar bone loss, with AI achieving a mean score of 6.12 in identifying teeth with attachment loss, compared to 5.43 for senior specialists, 4.58 for specialists, and 3.65 for general dentists. The ANOVA highlighted statistically significant differences between groups, particularly in the detection of attachment loss on the maxillary arch (F = 3.820, p = 0.014). Additionally, AI showed high consistency in detecting alveolar bone loss, with comparable performance to senior specialists. Conclusions: AI systems exhibit significant potential as reliable tools for dental and periodontal assessment, complementing the expertise of human practitioners. However, further validation in clinical settings is necessary to address limitations such as algorithmic bias and atypical cases. AI integration in dentistry can enhance diagnostic precision and patient outcomes while reducing variability in clinical assessments.

Fixed prosthodontic dental restorations can potentially affect the periodontal tissues and vice versa, the periodontium can influence the longevity and esthetic appearance of dental restorations. We proposed an investigation on total bacterial load, specific periodontal pathogens, and periodontal clinical parameters in patients with dental fixed prosthesis and different degrees of periodontal tissue loss that followed photoactivation therapy (PDT) adjunctive to scaling and root planing. The study was conducted on 160 subjects, which were randomly assigned to scaling and root planing (SRP) alone (52 subjects, 256 sites), SRP and chlorhexidine rinsing (58 subjects, 276 sites), and SRP plus PDT (50 subjects, 318 sites). Periodontal parameters (plaque index, bleeding on probing, probing depth, and clinical attachment loss), followed by total bacterial load and specific periodontal pathogens (Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, and Treponema denticola) were examined in each patient at baseline, one and six months after. PDT exerted significant improvements both in clinical and microbiological load after one month, and these results were maintained 6 months after when compared to chlorhexidine rinsing or SRP alone, especially in severe periodontitis cases. Photoactivation therapy as an adjunctive periodontal therapeutic method was efficient in offering supplementary periodontal improvements in the clinical and microbiological parameters of patients with fixed dental prosthesis, particularly in severe periodontitis cases.