COMPARISON OF SOME SALIVARY VARIABLES BETWEEN VEGETARIANS AND OMNIVORES

The aim of the study was to compare salivary variables in a group of v egetarians with a group of omnivores. Twenty-nine vegetarians, 19 wome n and 10 men, mean age 35 yr, and 28 omnivores, 20 women and 8 men, me an age 35 yr, were compared in terms of salivary secretion rate, pH, b uffer capacity, mutans streptococci and lactobacilli. The vegetarians had a significantly higher secretion rate, but there were no other sig nificant differences regarding the salivary variables. The difference in secretion rate may have been caused by some lifestyle factor(s) dif fering between vegetarians and omnivores which probably mainly include nutrient(s), texture and roughness of the food.