No abstract

No abstract

The assessment of submandibular/sublingual (sm/sl) saliva is a procedure of increasing significance. However, the collection of these fluids by traditional techniques is difficult and therefore often neglected. To collect sm/sl saliva, we have assembled a novel, universal system consisting of four parts-collecting tubing, a buffering chamber, a storing tube, and a suction device. Submandibular/sublingual saliva samples were collected from ten healthy and ten xerostomic individuals. The system showed intra-examiner reproducibility of 0.92 for healthy and 0.89 for xerostomic subjects, and inter-examiner reproducibility of 0.93 for normal subjects and 0.80 for xerostomic individuals. The flow rates obtained by the present collecting set-up were similar to those measured by all known previous methods that were published during the last 40 years. The system was also efficient, in that more than 90% of the fluid that entered the system was eventually collected in the storing tube for analysis. The system appears to collect relatively pure sm/sl fluids, since contamination of the collected sample by a stimulant solution swabbed repeatedly over the tongue during saliva collection was minimal. The system is reliable, safe, practical, and comfortable for the patient.

No abstract

A clinical survey of oral soft tissue lesions in 298 geriatric patients in Israel was conducted. White lesions were found in 9.5% of smokers and 2.19% of non-smokers. Varicosities increased from 11.1% to 41.1% between ages 50-99 years. Pigmentation, hairy tongue, and papillary atrophy of the tongue all increased with age. Hairy tongue was found in 12.8% of men and 4.5% of women.