Effect of Different Commercially Available Biscuits on Salivary pH, Flow Rate and Oral Clearance Rate Among Children

Abstract

Introduction: Snacks and bakery foodstuffs like biscuits are the most preferred food items in the present decade. Thus it is important to know its cariogenicity. Aim:To study the effect of five commercially available biscuits on salivary pH, flow rate and oral clearance rate among children. Materials and methods:The study consisted of five groups of commercially available biscuits: oats, salt, glucose, cream, chocolate biscuits. Samples of saliva were collected, and pH was measured using an electrode, the flow rate directly from the calibrated test tube and the oral clearance time was estimated based on the time taken for the salivary pH to return back to the baseline values. After which, children were given one biscuit each and stimulated saliva samples were collected at different time intervals. Obtained values were subjected to the paired t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc Tukey's test.Results: Salivary pH had decreased compared to baseline for all the five commercially available biscuits with maximum drop seen for glucose, cream and chocolate biscuit group at 5 minutes. Oats group showed a maximum drop in mean salivary pH at 15 minutes and salt biscuits at 10 minutes. Increased salivary flow rate was seen for oats, salt, and cream biscuit group at 15 minutes and chocolate and glucose group had reduced when compared to its baseline value. The pH at 15 minutes had not returned back to the baseline values for all groups. Conclusion:The consumption of commercially available biscuits had an effect on salivary pH, flow rate and oral clearance rate in children.Clinical significance: snacks and bakery foodstuffs are the most preferred diet in the present decade by most of the age group. Biscuits being the commonest snack, this study helps in choosing the right biscuits for the children causing less harm to the general and dental health.