Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

To investigate whether there are any differences in salivary flow rates and saliva composition that may contribute to the reported increase in caries prevalence in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

DESIGN:

Randomized controlled trial.

SETTING:

The sialochemistry of children with JIA has rarely been investigated.

METHODS:

Unstimulated and stimulated whole saliva was collected from 17 randomly selected JIA patients and 17 age and sex matched controls. Both samples were analysed for salivary flow rate, pH, calcium and phosphate.

RESULTS:

Unstimulated and stimulated JIA saliva flow rates, and the flow rate change from unstimulated to stimulated in JIA saliva were all significantly lower than the controls. There were no significant differences in the pH of unstimulated and stimulated JIA saliva compared with the controls, however, the change in pH (from unstimulated to stimulated) in the study group was significantly greater. The JIA patients had non-significantly lower levels of both calcium and phosphate ions in the unstimulated and stimulated samples.

CONCLUSIONS:

This data would suggest that there is both a reduced resting salivary flow and a reduced response to stimulation in JIA patients, which may contribute to a previously reported higher caries prevalence.