LEUKOCYTES IN THE SALIVA OF CARIES-FREE AND CARIES-ACTIVE SUBJECTS

¹ Department of Physiology, Medical School, Newcastle upon Tyne, England

1. The technic of phase contrast microscopy has been applied to the examination of samples of saliva on a hemocytometer slide.

2. Leukocyte counts of samples of saliva from caries-free, caries-active, and caries-low subjects were obtained.

3. As the majority of these cells in saliva were present in varying stages of disintegration, it was decided to divide them into two groups: (1) cells which were intact and in no way damaged, and (2) the total count of all cells which were in a recognizable state, including intact cells.

4. The count of intact cells in the group of caries-free subjects was approximately four times greater than that from the caries-active group.

5. The count of total cells showed that no statistically significant difference was to be observed between the groups.

6. The volumes of saliva secreted by our caries-free subjects were significantly greater than those produced by the caries-active group.

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