Application of a sucrose indicator strip to evaluate salivary sucrose clearance.

This study examined salivary sucrose clearance times of 96 subjects using sucrose indicator strips. Subjects with high caries experience had a longer salivary sucrose clearance time than those with a low caries experience. The flow rate of unstimulated but not of stimulated saliva was significantly related to sucrose clearance. This finding is consistent with that of other studies on salivary clearance. The sucrose indicator strips are simple to use and sucrose clearance tests using these strips do involve instrumental analyses. It is concluded that the strips investigated are simple and effective and merit further investigation.