Oral sugar clearance and other caries-related factors of stimulated whole saliva in patients with secondary Sjögren syndrome

Objective: To compare oral sugar clearance, salivary flow rate, buffer capacity, salivary counts of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli in whole saliva, and root caries in subjects with secondary Sjögren syndrome with those of healthy subjects. Method and Materials: Twenty subjects with secondary Sjögren syndrome and 20 healthy subjects (age 30 to 55 years; all women) rinsed their mouth with a 20% sucrose solution. Before the rinse and 2, 5, 10, and 30 minutes after the rinse, 2 paper disks were soaked with saliva, 1 under the tongue and 1 in the mandibular vestibule. The salivary sucrose concentration was determined enzymatically. The clearance time and the area under the sugar clearance curve (AUC) were calculated. Results: Patients with secondary Sjögren syndrome and with low salivary flow had longer sugar clearance times in the mandibular buccal vestibule and sublingual regions than did healthy individuals (P = .000 and P = .000, respectively). Significant differences of AUC values between the groups for the buccal and sublingual regions were also found (P = .000 and P = .003, respectively). Conclusion: Subjects with secondary Sjögren syndrome had longer sugar clearance time, related to low salivary flow, high counts of cariogenic microorganisms, and decayed and filled surfaces in the root. Keywords: lactobacilli, mutans streptococci, salivary flow, salivary sugar clearance, secondary Sjögren syndrome