INTRAINDIVIDUAL AND INTERINDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN SALIVARY SUCROSE CLEARANCE OVER TIME

Salivary clearance of sugars influences acid production of dental plaq ue. The aim of the present study was to follow the clearance of sucros e over time. Ten subjects participated in five or six experiments each during a period of 20 months. The subjects rinsed with a 20% sucrose solution. Before the rinse and after 2, 5, 10 and 30 min a saliva samp le was collected. The salivary sucrose concentration was determined by an enzymatic technique. As a measure of the clearance of sucrose in s aliva, the area under the concentration versus time curve (AUC) was us ed. Analysis of variance revealed no differences with time in the intr a-individual AUC. However, the differences in AUC among individuals we re highly significant (p<0.001). The results show that the clearance p attern of sucrose may be an individual property which is constant over long time periods.