Near-patient test for nicotine and its metabolites in saliva to assess smoking habit

Smoking is a major risk factor for periodontal disease, causing bone and to oth loss. Effective management of many oral conditions requires accurate in formation about smoking. We describe a disposable. 10-min, near-patient sal iva test to monitor cigarette smoking. A plastic device contains the dried reagents to measure nicotine and its metabolites by a colorimetric assay. T he device can be used to give a semi-quantitative assessment of tobacco con sumption by observing a colour change and comparing it to a reference chart . Alternatively, the test can be quantified by measuring the light absorban ce with a colorimeter and determining the concentration of nicotine metabol ites by reference to a cotinine standard. This method correlates with repor ted daily cigarette consumption (r = 0.62 P<0.0001) and nicotine yield of c igarettes smoked (r = 0.35, P<0.01) and compares favourably with cotinine, as measured independently by radioimmunoassay (t = 0.57, P < 0.005). The me thod provides a simple-to-use, inexpensive way of monitoring tobacco consum ption in dental surgeries.