CORRELATION OF SALIVA ANALYSES WITH DENTAL EXAMINATIONS OF 574 FRESHMEN AT OREGON STATE COLLEGE

¹ Department of Foods and Nutrition, School of Home Economics, Oregon State College, Corvallis, Ore.

Analyses were done at Oregon State College on saliva samples from 574 freshman students who, according to the registrar's office, were residents of Oregon and who had not been in the armed services. The five tests that were done are: pH, starch hydrolyzing time, buffer capacity, ammonia nitrogen, and lactobacillus plate counts. Saliva was collected by paraffin stimulation and all tests were performed immediately after collection.

Correlation coefficients were calculated between the five tests and clinical findings as expressed by DMF surfaces. Highly significant correlations were found between DMF surfaces and starch hydrolyzing time and between DMF surfaces and lactobacillus counts.

There was also a significant positive correlation between DMF surfaces and pH, as well as a significant inverse correlation between DMF surfaces and buffer capacity. There was no significant correlation between DMF surfaces and ammonia nitrogen.

Intercorrelations among the various analyses were calculated, using each of ten possible combinations. There was a highly significant correlation coefficient between pH and buffer capacity. There was a significant inverse correlation between lactobacillus plate counts and buffer capacity; also, there were significant positive correlations between buffer capacity and starch hydrolyzing time and between ammonia nitrogen and pH.