The correlation between salivary peroxidase activity, salivary flow rate, and the oxidation-reduction potentials of human saliva and dental plaque suspensions.

18 subjects, 9 males and 9 females, were examined regarding salivary oxidation-reduction potential, salivary flow rate, salivary peroxidase activity, oxidation-reduction potential of dental plaque samples, and dental health. Both the peroxidase activity, expressed as the salivary lactoperoxidase, and the salivary oxidation-reduction potential increased with increasing salivary flow rate. The variation of these variables was obviously due to changes in salivary flow rate during the day. The remarkably slight differences in peroxidase activities, oxidation-reduction potentials and salivary flow rate in this study did not have any marked correlation with the clinical recordings of the test groups.