Abstract
Although salivary clearance rates in different parts of the mouth are known to vary, there is little information about salivary clearance on the occlusal surface of teeth. The aim of this study was to compare the clearance rates of the occlusal surface with those of different surface ares in the mouth.
The diffusant was 1 mol/l KCl in a 1.0% agarose matrix, placed in small acrylic devices which could be attached to the teeth with a resin plate. Four different sites in the mouth were chosen for taking measurements. The occlusal surface of the tooth applied to the distal area of the permanent second molars. The diffusion chambers were taken from the mouth after 10 minutes and the gels transferred quantitatively to flasks containing 100 ml of 100 ppm NaCl. The fluid was agitated intermittently for 1 h and analyzed for pottassium using atomic absorption spectrophotometry.
For 5 subjects, the clearance rates of potassium chloride from the gel were lowest in the upper anterior buccal regions and were highest in the lower anterior lingual regions statistically. The clearance rate for the lower occlusal surfaces were higher than those of the upper occlusal surfaces. The location of the parotid duct opening seemed to affect the clearance rates in the upper posterior occlusal region. In the lower posterior occlusal region, the flow of saliva from the submandibular and sublingual saliva affect the clearance in the posterior occlusal region.
