Saliva Testing

This was one of the most informative and interactive workshops I have ever had and I found out a lot more about my saliva and what it can tell us.
The test looked at several aspects of saliva.
1. How fast saliva is produced.
2. The texture of saliva, is it frothy, does it form a pool in the mouth or is it very sticky.
3. What the pH of saliva is. Is it acidic, neutral or alkaline.
4. We also tested the composition of saliva to find out what the percentage of calcium, phosphate and bicarbonate of soda was as this affects the buffering capacity from acidity (where decay and erosion can occur) to alkaline.
The aspects of the speed and texture all relate to our normal saliva output and could be an indication of dehydration. This can also be caused by the side effects of some medication. When saliva is reduced, plaque accumulation increases and there is less chance of saliva washing away food particles, therefore, increasing risk of caries
The composition and pH relate to the constituents of saliva and having good buffering against acids. This becomes particularly important for patients who naturally have a low pH as they may be at risk from acid erosion as well as decay. The good news is that many of our toothpastes now contain bicarbonate of soda and this helps to address the balance of the mouth back to neutral or alkaline.
One of the most valuable food substances we have to help combat them is Xylitol. This is derived from the bark of birch trees and is used as an artificial sweetener. One of the amazing features of this is that when the bacteria ingest the xylitol, they cannot digest it and release acid and it kills them off by using up their energy store !!! Brilliant!!! and it also blocks the messages from the fibrils so the bacteria slide off the tooth surface.
In wound healing, particularly large surface ulcers, research has shown that a combination of xylitol and lactoferrin are particularly effective and even large skin wounds have healed within 6 weeks of treatment of a spray with these two constituents. This regime has also been used to effectively treat ear problems.

Xylitol can be found in a multitude of products particularly in chewing gums and in granulated form to be used instead of sugar. There are also nasal sprays to help patients combat sinusitis.

Research has shown that 5 exposures to Xylitol per day is particularly effective in plaque control and also provides us with an excellent vehicle for stimulating the production of saliva.

Saliva testing can also identify early or mature plaque presence so this can also provide us with another excellent chairside assessment. You can find more information about the links between your general health and your dental health on our current Newsletter and we all look forward to helping keep you healthy in 2012!!

Maureen