The Influence of salivary pH and calcium

Abstract

Background: Sialolithiasis is a multifactorial pathology that accounts for more than 50 percent of salivary gland disease. However, the exact mechanism still remain unknown. Objectives: to investigate if there is a correlation between the change in salivary pH and the growth of salivary calculi and to determine what impact increased calcium, phosphate ion concentrations have on the stone growth. Materials and methods: 7 removed sialoliths were used. The artificial saliva solution (pH 7) was prepared. All salivary calculi were autoclaved in this solution. 7 flasks with sialoliths in artificial saliva solutions that different in concentrations of Ca²⁺ and PO⁴³-ions were used. They were kept in thermostat (37°C) for 13 weeks. The changes in weights of sialoliths and alterations in pH were measured every two weeks. Concentrations of Ca²⁺ and PO⁴³-ions were estimated at the beginning and measured at the end, using Spectrometer and Flame Photometer. After 8 weeks pH in all flasks were restored to pH7 with NaOH solution. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS 21.0 statistic program. A non-parametric statistical Friedman test was used for comparison. [...].