Deepti Biswas, Zameera A Naik, Anjana Bagewadi

ABSTRACT

Aim: To detect the levels of salivary calcium concentration in post menopausal osteoporotic female subjects. Materials and methods: The study included 90 diagnosed osteoporotic female subjects with no previous history of mensturation for the past 12 months reporting to the OPD of Medical Hospital and Research Centre. As per the WHO guidelines, T score values were used to distinguish between normal, osteopenic and osteoporotic female subjects. Each group included 30 subjects. The subjects were asked to rinse there mouth several times with water and relax for five minutes. 5 ml of saliva was collected in 30 ml air tight plastic containers using spitting method. Commercially available kit Cresolpthalein complexone (CPC, Crest Bio systems, India) was used to estimate the salivary calcium levels. Statistical analysis was done using two way ANOVA test. P value of < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: The mean salivary calcium levels for osteoporotic, osteopenic and control groups were 7.35 mg/dl, 6.80 mg/dl and 4.59 mg/dl respectively. There was significant increase in salivary calcium levels among the osteoporotic and osteopenic female subjects when compared to the normal female subjects. Conclusion: The present study revealed correlation of salivary calcium levels among osteoporotic, osteopenic and normal female subjects. Highest salivary calcium levels were detected in osteoporotic female subjects compared to the osteopenic and normal female subjects. Salivary calcium levels can be used as a screening tool to distinguish the women with or without osteoporosis.