This study demonstrates that the presence of yeast, but not lactobacillus infection, is related to salivary flow rate. Salivary pH is correlated with the primary infection of both lactobacilli and yeasts. The low output of saliva appears to influence the quantity of lactobacilli more than that of yeasts. The flow rate was lower and the presence of yeasts was higher in females than in males.

No significant influence of age on the stimulated salivary flow rate or pH was observed in a cross-sectional study of unmedicated adults. The females had a lower output than did the males in every age group. A tendency toward higher salivary counts of lactobacilli and yeasts with aging was observed.

Burning mouth syndrome is an oral pain disorder with a prevalence of 5-18% in patient materials. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Burning mouth syndrome in a representative sample of the general adult population. Altogether 431 subjects (237 females, 194 males) participated in the study. Subjects were questioned about the experience of prolonged burning sensation; the site, severity, pattern, duration and possible associations of the onset of the burning sensation, and a thorough clinical examination was performed. In all, 15% of the subjects had experienced prolonged oral burning but a half of them had some clinically observable oral mucosal lesion or oral candidosis. The prevalence of the complaint was significantly higher in females than in males.

Parvinen T, Parvinen I, Larmas M: Stimulated salivary flow rate, pH and lactobacillus and yeast concentrations in medicated persons. Scand J Dent Res 1984; 92: 524-32.Abstract -Flow rate, pH and hu tobacillus and yeast counts of paraflin-stiniulated whole saliva were analyzed in an adult population of 463 medicated persons. Ofthe very large number of drugs only a few groups were found to decrease salivation to such an extent that they can be considered to cause dental harm. Persons using neuroleptics, tricyclic antidepressants or antihypertensives were nevertheless found to produce stimulated saliva at rates significantly lower than unmedicated persons. Age had no influence on the flow rate, but postmcnopausal age seems to predispose medicated women to a decrease in salivary How. Higher microbial counts were found in the medicated men.

All 30- to 59-year old subjects (N = 757) from a representative sample of adult Finns (total sample = 1,105), showing advanced periodontitis (marginal bone loss more than 30%, n = 125), were compared with their age- and sex-matched pairs showing no marginal bone loss (n = 291) with respect to the number of intact teeth (no caries experience) present. Both male (n = 83) and female (n = 42) subjects with advanced periodontitis had more intact teeth and intact molars than their matched pairs (113 men and 178 women) (P less than or equal to 0.01 for intact teeth and P less than or equal to 0.05 for intact molars in both groups). The total number of teeth present did not differ significantly between the compared groups. Contrary to earlier hypotheses, our results suggest that periodontitis and dental caries do not necessarily share a common etiology.

In many very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants the ductus arteriosus fails to close spontaneously, and they subsequently develop signs and symptoms of poor tissue perfusion and heart failure. This study evalutes the results of early surgical closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). We retrospectively reviewed the records of all 101 VLBW infants who weighed 1,500 g or less when their PDA was surgically ligated in Turku University Hospital between 1988 and 1998. The mean gestational age at birth was 27.2 weeks and mean birth weight 963+/-239 g. The operation was performed at 12+/-8 days of age; the infants' weight at operation was 969+/-231 g and they were tracheally extubated 11+/-14 days after the operation. The surgery-related mortality was 3% (3/101) and overall mortality 10% (10/101). We conclude that surgical closure of PDA is safe and effective in VLBW infants.

– The effect of smoking habit on flow rate, pH and lactobacillus and yeast counts of paraffin stimulated whole saliva was analyzed in an unmedicated adult population of 462 non‐smokers and 180 smokers. Regular but not immediate smoking was not associated with any significant changes in the salivary flow rate. The pH of stimulated whole saliva was in both sexes lower in smokers than in non‐smokers, the differences between the groups being statistically significant. Smoking did not affect salivary yeast counts, but smokers did show increased proportions of high lactobacillus counts.

Parvinen T, Kokko J, Yli-Urpo A: Micotiazole lacquer cotnpared with gel in treattnetit of denture stotnatitis. Scand J Detit Res J994; J02: 361-6. © Munksgaard, 1994. An open, randomized, controlled study with two parallel treatment groups was done to evaluate the efficacy atid safety of a single application of a miconazole 55 mg/g denture lacquer applied once on the mucosal denture surface, as compared with those of a commercially available miconazole 2% gel applied four times daily for 2 wk, in the treatment of Ca«f//c/a-associated denture stomatitis. The efficacy variables were Ccttidida cultures on the Oricult plates taken from the palatal mucosa and the denture surface, erythema of the palatal mucosa, and smears for leukocyte migration into the palatal epithelium taken on entering the study and on days 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 after commencement of therapy. On entering the study, all patients had positive cultures of yeast in the samples from the palatal mucosa. Within the first 3 days, all gel patients and 88% of the lacquer patients had fewer than 10 colonies. The gel was statistically significantly more efficient than the lacquer on days 7 and 14. In the samples from the denture surface, all patients had more than 100 yeast colonies at inclusion and, on day 3, approximately 80% in both treatment groups had fewer than 10 colonies. From day 7 onward, the gel was statistically significantly more elficient than the lacquer. The reddening of the palatal mucosa was not statistically significantly different in the treatment groups at any of the examinations, but smears for the determination of leukocyte migration indicated that the gel was statistically significantly more efficient than the lacquer on day 7. One patient in the gel group complained of gastrointestinal disturbance and stopped the treatment. On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that a single application of the miconazole denture lacquer is safe and creates an immediate antimycotic effect, A repeated application of the lacquer is, however, needed to achieve a prolonged effect.