Salivary Status of Diabetic Children

Saliva may provide us with clues for the evaluation of dental caries susceptibility and dental caries risk. The aim of this study was to compare salivary parameters: flow rate, pH, buffering capacity, glucose in saliva and bacterial count of Streptococcus Mutans and Lactobacillus in healthy and suffering from DM1 children and adolescents in Plovdiv region. The study was conducted on 128 children, including 68 children suffering from diabetes mellitus type 1 5-18 years of age,that were refered for treatment of dibetes mellitus to the Paediatric Clinic at Medical University in Plovdiv (groupII) and 60 controlsI (group I) aged 5 to 18 years. Metabolic control was determined for each diabetic child by percentage of glucosilated hemoglobin (HbA1C) 29 children were judged to be well controlled (HbA1C≤ 8%) 38 tric children (group IIA) were poorly controlled (HbA1C≥ 8%) (group IIB).The following salivary parameters are determined: salivary flow rate, salivary buffer capacity, salivary pH salivary glucose, microbial counts of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus. The statistical analysis was performed using χ-test and Fisher’s exact test. Saliva is an easy to collect and study fluid that could help diagnose and monitor systematic diseases, such as diabetes.