Background and Objectives:This study was designed to compare inorganic salivary calcium, phosphate, flow rate and pH of un-stimulated saliva and oral hygiene of healthy subjects, patients with periodontitis and dental caries and to correlate salivary calcium level with the number of intact teeth.Materials and Methods:The present study consisted of 90 patients aged between 18 and 55 years and were divided into three groups, periodontitis, dental caries and controls. Oral hygiene index-simplified, probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level and number of teeth present, teeth with active carious lesions were recorded. Salivary flow rate and pH was recorded and subjected to biochemical investigation. Estimation of inorganic calcium and phosphate was performed by colorimetric method.Results:Results showed statistically significant increase in salivary inorganic calcium and phosphate levels, poor oral hygiene status, pH and salivary flow rate in patients with periodontitis when compared with dental caries group and controls.Interpretation and Conclusion:Individuals who have increased salivary inorganic calcium, phosphate, pH, flow rate and maintain poor oral hygiene could be at a higher risk for developing periodontitis and may have less dental caries and more number of intact teeth.

Context:Periodontal disease is an immuno-inflammatory disease that is initiated by the interaction between microbial plaque and the periodontal tissues. The data available on the association of periodontal diseases with the lipid profile are conflicting. Therefore, a need for a study in this area was felt.Aims:To evaluate the lipid profile in the serum of patients with chronic periodontitis and chronic periodontitis with Type II diabetes mellitus (DM) patients and to compare it with healthy controls, to see whether they can serve as potential markers for chronic periodontitis and also to assess whether periodontitis can have systemic effects.Settings and Design:This study is a cross-sectional study.Subjects and Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted involving 300 participants in the age group of 30–60 years from October 2010 to May 2015. Five milliliters of venous blood was collected from each of the study participants, from the antecubital vein. Lipid profile was assessed using the ERBA commercially available kit.Statistical Analysis:Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS software version 17. Multigroup comparison was carried out using ANOVA. The honest significant difference Tukey's test was used in conjunction with ANOVA to find means which are significantly different from each other.Results:When the lipid profile was estimated, total cholesterol (TC) levels were seen to be significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the DM with periodontitis group. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels were seen to be significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the control group. Mean serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very LDL (VLDL) levels were seen to be significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the DM with periodontitis group. The triglyceride (TGL) values were also significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the DM with periodontitis group. The HDL and LDL levels were seen to be nonsignificant between chronic periodontitis and chronic periodontitis with diabetic group.Conclusions:The findings of the study showed that the lipid profile was significantly altered in patients with chronic periodontitis as compared to healthy controls. There was a potentiated difference in the values for TC, VLDL cholesterol, and TGL in patients with chronic periodontitis when compared to patients with Type II DM. HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol did not show a significant difference.

Several recent reports have indicated high levels of reactive oxygen species, causing oxidative stress, in the pathogenesis of HIV infection. Oxidative stress may lead to enhanced HIV replication in infected cells and may also aggravate the immunodeficiency by reduction of cellular immunity and possibly by increased programmed cell death of lymphocytes. Saliva can constitute a first line of defense against free radical mediated oxidative stress. The use of saliva as a diagnostic fluid has become somewhat of a translational research success story. Technologies are now available enabling saliva to be used to diagnose disease and predict disease progression. Purpose: The antioxidant capacity of saliva was investigated in 68 children who were divided into two groups. 34 children who were investigated were diagnosed as having HIV infection and the other group consisted of children who reported to the department and served as healthy controls. Total antioxidant capacity of saliva was evaluated by spectrophotometric assay. Conclusions: The results indicated that the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of saliva decreased in children with HIV infection. TAC was seen to increase with the age of the children.