Assessment of whole saliva flow rate in denture wearing patients.

It has been suggested that salivary flow rate decreases with age. As is known, the presence of a thin salivary film layer is essential for the comfort of the mucosa beneath a denture base and for denture retention. The purpose of this study was to determine the flow rates, viscosity and the pH of resting and stimulated whole saliva before and after prosthetic treatment in complete denture wearing patients. Saliva was collected under clinical conditions between 08.00 and 10.00 hours. The flow rates of whole saliva were measured at three stages: (i) resting and stimulated saliva before prosthetic treatment; (ii) immediately after the first wearing of the complete denture; and (iii) resting and stimulated saliva after 2 or 3 months of wearing the complete denture. Saliva production was stimulated by chewing paraffin wax. Flow rate was calculated as collected volume/collection time. It was found that there was a significant difference between resting and stimulated whole salivary flow rates before and after complete denture wearing.