In view of the high prevalaence of periodontal disease, it is important for us to detect and treat the disease as early as we can. Therefore, using salivary occult blood test paper (Salivaster Bld), I examined gingivitis screening in a group of 117 employees of a company (average age 42.6 years). The results of the phenolphthalin method and the Salivaster Bld were the same in both the conventional 5-step evaluation and the 3-step evaluation. Therefore, the 3-step method is suitable for gingivitis screening, and gargled liquid should be used as specimens because its evaluation is simple and is subject to in mass applications.
In most cases, a low correlation was noted between Salivaster Bld and each of the indexes indicative of the condition of gingivitis and periodontitis. However, since a high correlation (0.3-0.7) was noted with many of the indexes for a group of subjects up to their thirties, compared with lower values noted for older subjects, the application of Salivaster Bld appeared to be effective for those agegroups which have a high incidence of gingivitis.
No sex difference was noted in the indexes.