Influence of Smoking in the Elemental Composition of Oral Fluids and its Relation with Oral Diseases

J. ABRAHAM; HECTOR JORGE SANCHEZ; M.S. GRENÓN; M.C. VALENTINUZZI

Campinas (Brasil)

Congreso; RAU 16; 2006

This work presents a study of elemental composition (major, minor and trace elements) of oral fluids such as saliva and gingival fluid, and their relation with smoking. Spectrochemical analyzes were accomplished by the total-reflection x-ray fluorescence method using synchrotron radiation. The main topic under investigation is the effect of chemical factors in the oral cavity which can influence the development of gingival diseases. It is a well-known fact that the elemental composition of oral fluids is affected by the buccal bacterial flora and glandular activity. These changes of composition in saliva and gingival fluids were studied in 20 patients that declared to be regular smokers. A similar number of non-smoker patients were also studied. In the overall set of subjects, some of them presented different degrees of gingival disease while the rest were healthy. The analysis of some elements and their correlation with smoking can be used to predict the development of some oral affections such as gingival illness. The samples were collected from adult patients in a dental office and deposited on reflectors carriers for analysis. They were dried under lamp. A internal standard was added to the samples in order to perform quantitative analysis. The experiments were carried out in the XRF beamline of the LNLS using the TXRF configuration and white beam. Data were analyzed with the usual programs for spectrum analysis. Quantification was attained by using the sensitivity method with internal standard. The measured composition of oral fluids for the cases of smoker patients shows a significant increase of concentrations of certain elements and the presence of other elements not detected in non-smoker subjects. Taking into account that some authors have reported that unusual concentrations of elements like Ca, P and, in general, high-Z components represents a risk factor for the development of gingival illness, the results obtained in this work are been applied to establish the most significant correlations which will indicated specific effects on the oral diseases.