Study on Saliva Using a Thermo-Recording Balance

¹ Eastman Dental Center, Rochester, New York

Thermal decomposition patterns were made of eighteen parotid saliva samples. Ten samples were obtained from naval recruits with a negative caries history and eight from recruits requiring the extraction of all teeth because of rampant caries.

The lyophilized samples were heated at the rate of 1° C. per minute from ambient to 120° C. and then 3° C. per minute to 550° C.

The parotid saliva from recruits with a negative caries history contained more of a component that was volatile in the 80° C. to 200° C. range, when compared to the parotid saliva from recruits with caries activity.

In the 300° C. to 500° C. range, the parotid saliva from the caries-active recruits lost more weight than the parotid saliva from recruits without a caries history.

Though the number of samples were few, the results suggest the use of the thermo-recording balance may well augment chemical studies of the saliva.