STATISTICAL INTERPRETATION OF SALIVARY ANALYSES ON 555 SCHOOL CHILDREN IN TWO GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS IN OREGON

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

Salivary analyses were made on 14-, 15- and 16-year-old native-born and native-reared children in two regions in Oregon. Examinations were made in Clatsop and Coos counties in the Coast Region and in Deschutes and Klamath counties in the Central Oregon Region.

The saliva samples were tested for pH, amylase activity as indicated by the starch hydrolyzing time, buffer capacity, ammonia nitrogen, lactobacillus counts, and acid producing power of the bacterial flora as indicated by the Snyder test.

Significant variations were found between counties in pH, buffer capacity, ammonia nitrogen, and lactobacillus counts. There was also a consistent significant variation in buffer capacity between the sexes.

Significant positive correlations were found between lactobacillus counts and the Snyder test and between pH and buffer capacity. Significant negative correlations were found between lactobacillus counts and ammonia nitrogen, and between ammonia nitrogen and the Snyder test.