2004 Volume 42 Issue 3 Pages 365-374
Various salivary tests have been developed for evaluating the risk of dental caries. The aim of this study was to examine the individual variation of salivary flow rate, pH, buffer capacity, and calcium and phosphate concentrations in unstimulated and stimulated whole saliva and to compare the individual variations with the overall range.
Unstimulated and stimulated whole saliva was collected 4 times a day (9: 00,11: 00,13: 00,17: 00) for 3 days in 5 healthy young adults and was collected at 2: 00 for 3 days from 8 children (5 years of age). The subjects were seated, head down, and saliva was collected for five minutes by being allowed to drip off the lower lip into a weighed container. The subjects were then asked to chew, a stick of sugar-free gum for 10 minutes and 3 minutes saliva samples were collected. CAT 21R was used for measurement of the salivary buffer capacity. Calcium was determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy, phosphate colorimetrically, and pH electrometrically.
The individual range of the salivary flow rate, pH and the buffer capacity varied and covered 50%or more of the overall range. The variation of the calcium and phosphate concentration in stimulated saliva was smaller than those in unstimulated saliva. There was a positive correlation between the salivary flow rate and buffer capacity in all of the adult samples (p<0.05). This suggests that the salivary buffer capacity and the components based on a single salivary analysis do not represent the individual mean level.
