Oral-based diagnostics have the potential to detect systemic disease and evidence of exposure to various harmful substances, as well as provide biomarkers of health and disease status. Integration of novel approaches to oral-based diagnostics is expanding to include genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, and nanotechnology. Improved technologies for diagnostics are resulting in more "user-friendly" methods. Efforts to translate bench assays to commercial products in the area of oral diagnostics have increased recently, as witnessed by the appearance of several new oral-based diagnostic products in the marketplace. Collaborative academic, government, and industry relationships in this arena are also forming, all of which will undoubtedly serve to rapidly advance the field. This volume brings together contributions from leaders in the areas of toxicology, pathology, oral biology, dental research, and clinical medicine. NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/nyas. ACADEMY MEMBERS: Please contact the New York Academy of Sciences directly to place your order (www.nyas.org). Members of the New York Academy of Science receive full-text access to the Annals online and discounts on print volumes. Please visit www.nyas.org/membership/main.asp for more information about becoming a member.