INITIAL OXIDATION-REDUCTION POTENTIALS OF SALIVA

¹ Research Laboratory, School of Dentistry, University of Kansas City, Kansas City, Mo.

Initial oxidation-reduction potentials of unstimulated saliva of 5 subjects immediately following spitting showed no significant differences from the mean E_h of +261 mv. Approximately 50 tests were made upon each subject, and the total number of tests was 252. The subjects did not vary significantly from one another. At bi-hourly intervals during the day the E_h for the group became less as the day progressed, the greatest change occurred in the morning between 9 and 11 o'clock. However, the changes were not sufficiently great to be significant. Each subject followed the mean for each bi-hourly period so closely that no one deviated significantly, and neither did the subjects vary from one another at any one period to be of significance.

Therefore, importance is placed upon the mean E_h of saliva of these subjects rather than upon any individual or bi-hourly characteristics.