Effect of repeated sampling and prestimulation on saliva buffer capacity and flow rate values in children

Great variations reported in the frequency distribution of buffer capacity values may partly be due to methodological differences in saliva sampling. In this study we wanted to see to what extent these variations are due to repetition and prestimulation. 9-yr-old schoolchildren (n: 41, 23 girls and 18 boys), who had never had saliva samples taken before, participated in the present study. The repetition tests were carried out between 9 and 11 a.m. on three subsequent days. The effect of prestimulation was tested 4 days later with the same subjects. The buffer capacity of the samples was determined electrometrically immediately after sampling using the commercial Dentobuff-test. The intraindividual analysis revealed a significant increase in flow rate but not in buffer capacity along with repetition of the sampling. The analysis further showed that the buffer capacity of children accustomed to saliva sampling increased significantly through prestimulation of 1 min. The use of prestimulation resulted in substantial changes also in the frequency distribution of the buffer capacity values. Our results emphasize the importance of proper sampling conditions in saliva collection when screening children for high caries risk.