Abstract
Aims: To determine some physical and biochemical characteristic of the saliva in insulin dependant diabetes mellitus (IDDM) patients compared to control group and to correlate the salivary variables to any alteration in the oral health status which is evaluated by recording the plaque index, gingival index, and calculus index. Materials and Methods : Salivary samples were collected from 20 IDDM patients and 15 healthy male with age range (20-28) using simple spitting method. Salivary flow rate, pH value, total proteins, calcium, sodium, and potassium concentration were determined for each sample. Clini-cal examination was performed for both, patients and control groups to determine the plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and calculus index (CI). Results: The salivary samples of IDDM patients showed significantly lower salivary flow rate, pH value, and calcium concentration when compared with control group, while total proteins and potassium concentration were significantly higher. The PI, GI, and CI were significantly higher in IDDM Patients. Conclusions: Our results suggested that IDDM is one of the pathological conditions that alter the properties of sali-vary secretion. The oral health status in IDDM in addition to its relation to the systemic condition; it is also related to the salivary properties
