About the Authors

Daniel H. Fine

finedh@sdm.rutgers.edu

Affiliation Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America

Kenneth Markowitz

Affiliation Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America

Karen Fairlie

Affiliation Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America

Debbie Tischio-Bereski

Affiliation Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America

Javier Ferrandiz

Affiliation Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America

Dipti Godboley

Affiliation Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America

David Furgang

Affiliation Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America

John Gunsolley

Affiliation Department of Periodontics, School of Dentistry, Virginia Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America

Al Best

Affiliation Department of Periodontics, School of Dentistry, Virginia Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America

Competing Interests

DHF is the inventor of two patents pending titled “salivary bioassay for early detection of bone loss” (US08389015 B2) in which one of the biomarkers for detection is MIP-1alpha. DHF is the inventor of another patent pending titled “method for detection of active periodontal disease at the local tooth site” (Applic no. 13/183550) in which one of the biomarkers for detections is MIP-1 alpha. Both patents are owned by Rutgers University. DHF declares that the conduct of the study was not influenced by this conflict nor was the analysis or reporting of the data obtained from this study. There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide to authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: DHF. Analyzed the data: JG AB. Wrote the paper: DHF. Review and suggestions of manuscript: JG AB KM KF DTB JF DG DF. Contributed all reagents: DHF. Contributed all the analysis tools: JG AB. Responsible for laboratory work related to the samples: DF DG. Responsible for clinical assessments and for collection of samples: DTB KM. Responsible for contacting students and for all correspondence with subjects, parents, guardians and the Newark School System: KF. Responsible for data entry and monitoring: JF.