Is there an age-dependent decrease in resting secretion of saliva of healthy persons? A study of 1493 subjects.
OBJECTIVE
Evaluation of the resting whole saliva secretion rate in relation to age.


METHODS
A sample of 1493 healthy subjects between 5 and 88 years of age (691 men and 802 women). A new objective procedure for whole saliva quantification, the Whole Saliva Test (WST), was used.


RESULTS
Resting whole saliva was found to decrease with age (Pearson's coefficient: r = 0.273; P = 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Resting whole saliva decreases with age.
Lopez-Jornet
M P
MP
Department of Oral Medicine, University of Murcia, Spain.
Bermejo-Fenoll
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000378:metabolism*; D012472:Salivation / Q000502:physiology; D012636:Secretory Rate; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013048:Specimen Handling; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000503:physiopathology