Content and solubility of sodium in denture adhesives

The objectives of this study were to determine the content and solubility of sodium in denture adhesives, and to ascertain relationships between these values. Nine powder and 10 cream denture adhesives were assayed for sodium by spectrophotometry. The range of dry weight sodium content was 2.4 gm/100 gm to 6 gm/100 gm. The range of solubility of sodium in the denture adhesives, as determined by in vitro methods, was 0.51 gm/100 gm to 1.70 gm/100 gm. The percent of solubility of sodium was 12% to 42%. Application of the Mann-Whitney test determined that the observed differences in sodium content and percent of solubility between the groups of powder and cream adhesives were not significant (alpha 0.001). However, sodium solubility of the powder adhesives was significantly greater (alpha 0.001) than that of the cream adhesives. It has been shown that dietary sodium restriction reduces blood pressure in hypertensive patients and that a diet high in sodium chloride produces hypertension in the population predisposed to the disease. This study raises questions as to the possible effect of the sodium in denture adhesives on the hypertensive patient. We suggest the use of adhesives with a low percent of sodium solubility.