Comparative Assessment of Levels of Total Proteins in Saliva on Control and Diabetic Patients

Diabetic Patients frequently report for Dental problems; however assessment of their diabetic status though empirical is quiet challenging. Either patients do not know about their diabetic status or are not willing to get it done due to financial constraints or chances of cross infection. Some of them get it checked but do not report at proper time. Though serum analysis has always been a gold standard for diagnosis of various diseases, but serum assessment at dental clinic is not possible because of non-existence of such culture. In the recent past assessment of other body fluids such as Saliva as diagnostic tool has gained importance. Aim of this study was thus to assess level of Total Proteins in saliva of control and diabetics and correlate between Total Protein levels and incidence of caries and gingival health. Study was conducted on 90 subjects; 30 control and 60 diabetics. Sample was selected on the basis of history, HbA1c levels, serum sugar levels and salivary sugar levels. Un-stimulated whole saliva from diabetics and control group was then collected, stored and freezed at -20°C. Saliva samples were then defrosted centrifuged and its supernatant portion was analyzed by Dimension Clinical Chemistry System for Total Proteins. SPSS 17.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results showed that salivary Total protein levels were higher for the diseased group when compared with control group and were correlated statistically significantly with caries and poor gingival health.