Effectiveness of Salivary Glucose as a Reliable Alternative in Diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to ascertain the reliability of using salivary glucose in diagnosing and monitoring the blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetic patients and also to evaluate the salivary glucose in fasting and postprandial states and correlate with the blood glucose levels and hemoglobin A1c values.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was conducted on 79 Type 1 diabetic patients and 100 healthy controls. The blood and salivary glucose levels were evaluated in both study and control groups using glucose-oxidase peroxidase method.

RESULTS

There was significantly higher level of salivary glucose in diabetics than in controls. There was a positive moderate-to-strong correlation between stimulated and unstimulated salivary glucose to blood glucose in both fasting and postprandial states. The cutoff values for stimulated and unstimulated fasting salivary glucose was 5.8 mg/dl and 5.6 mg/dl, respectively. The cutoff value for stimulated and unstimulated salivary glucose in postprandial state was 10.3 mg/dl and 9.5 mg/dl, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Salivary glucose appears to be a reliable biofluid to assess the blood glucose levels and can be a reliable alternative to blood glucose in Type 1 diabetes mellitus patients.