The gingivitis iron test

Mixed saliva stimulated by mastication was sampled under standardized conditions in 50 recruits before and after a 10-day period of intensified oral hygiene. The degree of gingivitis was assessed (1) with the Sulcus Bleeding Index and (2) with the spectrophotometric determination of blood iron in the saliva samples. Oral hygiene reduced (1) the SBI from 1.1+/-0.6 to 0.6+/-0.4 and (2) salivary iron from 0.6+/-0.5 to 0.3+/-0.4 mug, both differences being highly significant (PF is less than 0.001). SBI and iron data were significantly but not strongly correlated (r=51).