Salivary Electrolytes in Patients with Periodontal Disease

It is well known that periodontal disease is among others consequence of bacterial invasion of the host periodontal tissues. Saliva has an important role in antibacterial defence within oral cavity and even further on. Some of these antibacterial activities are probably dependent on certain salivary electrolytes such as copper, magnesium, etc. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine levels of salivary phosphate, copper, chloride, potassium and sodium in subjects with and without periodontal disease in order to explore its potential diagnostic implications. This study included 35 patients with periodontal disease and 41 controls. The levels of sodium, potassium and chloride were determined by indirect potentiometry, copper was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and levels of magnesium were determined by spectrophotometric method with xylidil blue. Parametric statistics was used for data analysis. No significant difference in any of the measured periodontal clinical parameters was found between patients with chronic and aggressive periodontitis. No significant difference in salivary phosphate, sodium, potassium, and chloride between patients and controls were found. Conclusions: Patients with periodontitis had significantly higher salivary copper concentration compared to the control group which might reflect either increased antimicrobial activity or ineffective enzymatic activity various copper containing enzymes.