Assessment of salivary flow rate in patients with chronic periodontitis

Abstract

A BSTRACT Background: Chronic periodontitis (CP) is an infectious disease, primarily affecting the attachment apparatus of the dentition, and is categorized into mild, moderate, and severe periodontitis on the basis of its severity. It is a well-established and proven fact that an adequate level of saliva is essential for maintaining the integrity of oral tissues including the periodontium. Although various factors, such as stimulation, circadian rhythm, diet, age, and drugs, can affect the salivary flow rate, many recent studies have provided evidence that it can be altered by pathological inflammatory conditions such as periodontal diseases. Therefore, this study has been undertaken to assess the unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rate in the different clinical stages of chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: This study comprised 60 study participants, who were divided into four groups depending on clinical attachment level (CAL). In all, both unstimulated and stimulated saliva were collected, and the flow rate was expressed in milliliter per minute. Results: Statistical analysis was accomplished with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze differences in salivary flow rate among the groups. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. The amount of unstimulated saliva in healthy subjects, in mild, moderate, and severe periodontitis was 0.766, 0.400, 0.270, and 0.146 mL/min, respectively. Likewise, the amount of stimulated saliva in healthy subjects, in mild, moderate, and severe periodontitis was 1.017, 0.494, 0.347, and 0.236 mL/min, respectively. Conclusion: The study identified a significant decrease in both unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rate with the severity of progression of chronic periodontitis.

Associations between salivary cytokines and oral health, age, and sex in healthy children

“…This observation could be explained by the dilution of the cytokines due to the high salivary flow rate; alternatively, the antiinflammatory and antibiotic components in the saliva might exert a protective effect against oral inflammation, which has been reported recently 41 , 42 . Furthermore, the salivary flow rate is reported to be reduced in chronic periodontitis, a subcategory of oral inflammation 43 .…”

Associations between salivary cytokines and oral health, age, and sex in healthy children

“…This observation could be explained by the dilution of the cytokines due to the high salivary ow rate; alternatively, the antiin ammatory and antibiotic components in the saliva might exert a protective effect against oral in ammation, which has been reported recently [43,44]. Furthermore, the saliva ow rate is reported to be reduced in chronic periodontitis, a subcategory of oral in ammation [45].…”

Association of general health and lifestyle factors with the salivary microbiota – Lessons learned from the ADDITION-PRO cohort

“…Importantly, periodontitis and dental caries has been shown to associate with characteristics of the salivary microbiota ( Belstrøm, 2020 ). In the same vein data on the salivary flow rate of participants were not collected, despite it being an important risk factor for oral disease ( Dodds et al., 2015 ; Vallabhan et al., 2020 ). Thus, it is almost certain that the potentially heterogeneous oral health status of the ADDITION-PRO cohort may have confounded the observed associations.…”