Salivary thiocyanate- a biochemical indicator of smoking among adults

Saliva plays an important role in oral health monitoring, regulating, and maintaining the integrity of oral mucosa50. Salivary diagnosis is an increasingly important field in dentistry as it is an easily obtainable, non-invasive diagnostic medium. It is necessary for protection, lubrication of oral mucosal tissues, remineralisation of teeth, digestion, taste sensation, stimulation, washed out effect, pH balance and phonation46. Human saliva contains a large number of solids (organic and inorganic) constituents like proteins, sodium, potassium, SCN, immunoglobulin’s etc. SCN levels in saliva are the most frequently used biochemical tests for establishing the incidence or prevalence of tobacco consumption among smokers. As SCN is a metabolite of a combustion product of hydrogen cyanide, it is not useful for the detection of smokeless tobacco but it plays a critical role in understanding patterns of adult smoking behavior and for evaluation of healthy education programs aimed at reducing or preventing the habit