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Age- and Flow-dependency of Salivary Viscoelasticity

E. Zussman¹, A.L. Yarin^1,, and R.M. Nagler^2,*

¹ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; and
² Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department and Oral Biochemistry Laboratory, Rambam Medical Center and the Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

View larger version (41K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 1. Elongational viscometer. (A) An image of the elongational rheometer. (B) A sketch of a stretched thread of liquid of diameter d between two plates. The diameter of the thread at the vicinity of the plates is R >> d. The elongational flow driven by capillary forces in the thread is depicted by the arrows.

View larger version (64K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 2. Elongational flow in a representative parotid saliva sample taken from a young person at rest as a function of time. The photographs were taken during self-thinning of the liquid thread, at 2000 fps with shutter speed 1/2000 (not to scale).

View larger version (14K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 3. Salivary statistical results. Median salivary flow rate and relaxation time values (A) and concentrations of sodium (Na), potassium (K), and total protein (B) of young (n = 11) vs. old (n = 22) groups. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.

View larger version (16K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 4. Filament diameter, d vs. time, for a representative young person. The relaxation time was found by fitting the equation to the almost linear (in the semi-logarithmic frame) sections of the graphs between the vertical lines. At rest: (a) whole saliva, = 1 ms; (b) submandibular/sublingual, = 3.58 ms; (c) parotid, = 1.08 ms. Stimulated saliva: (d) whole saliva, = 3.46 ms; (e) submandibular/sublingual, = 18.70 ms; (f) parotid, = 1.31 ms.