Salivary Diagnostics

Saliva has transformed from a simple oral fluid to a dynamic, information-rich biofluid with vast potential for diagnostics and precision medicine. Traditionally considered a less-invasive alternative to blood, advanced salivaomics—the integrated study of the salivary genome, transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, and microbiome—has revealed saliva as a non-invasive window into both oral and systemic health. New techniques, such as salivary liquid biopsy, allow for the detection of circulating tumor DNA and RNA in oral fluids, supporting early detection of cancers and monitoring of systemic diseases. Additionally, saliva-exosomics has identified extracellular vesicles and exosomes as stable carriers of molecular information, amplifying saliva’s diagnostic value.

Saliva offers significant advantages over blood—including painless, stress-free, and contamination-free collection—making it an appealing tool for widespread diagnostic screening and disease monitoring. However, major challenges remain. Saliva’s composition is subject to greater physiological variation than blood, making disease signatures harder to identify and interpret. Often, identifying a single biomarker is insufficient; instead, panels of molecular changes or multi-omics approaches are needed. Moreover, robust longitudinal studies that validate salivary biomarkers in large patient populations remain rare. There are also unresolved practical, psychological, and financial barriers to the clinical implementation of saliva-based diagnostics.

The primary aim of this Research Topic is to advance and consolidate the current state-of-the-art in salivary diagnostics. We seek to address critical challenges such as the standardization of saliva as a biospecimen, the validation of novel biomarkers, and the translation of discoveries into clinical practice. Importantly, this Research Topic also highlights the need to understand and overcome real-world barriers, from stakeholder engagement to regulatory and logistical considerations.

This Research Topic invites contributions spanning basic science, technology development, and clinical translation in the field of salivary diagnostics. Key themes include:

• Salivaomics and multi-omics: Integrating genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and microbiome profiles for disease detection.
• Saliva liquid biopsy: Use of salivary DNA/RNA analysis for early detection and monitoring of cancers or systemic diseases.
• Saliva-exosomics: Exploring extracellular vesicles and exosomes as carriers of clinically relevant biomarkers.
• Novel biosensors and point-of-care technologies: Development and validation of saliva-based diagnostic devices.
• Standardization and data integration: Establishing best practices for saliva collection, processing, and analysis.
• Clinical validation: Studies linking changes in salivary composition with oral or systemic disease, including longitudinal research.
• Implementation science: Research into psychological, logistical, regulatory, and financial factors affecting uptake in practice.
• Stakeholder perspectives: Original research or surveys that explore the attitudes and experiences of patients, clinicians, or industry partners.

Submissions are welcome in the form of original research articles, reviews (narrative or systematic), technology reports, clinical studies, stakeholder surveys, and perspectives. We especially encourage work that bridges rigorous science with practical implementation, bringing salivary diagnostics closer to routine clinical use and global healthcare impact.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: salivary diagnostics, saliva testing, non-invasive biomarkers, oral health monitoring, systemic disease detection, clinical saliva studies, diagnostic biomarkers, saliva composition analysis, salivaomics, liquid biopsy, salivary biomarkers, non-invasive testing, precision medicine, oral health, point-of-care diagnostics

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.