Salivary flow rate and xerostomia in patients with type I and II diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most prevalent metabolic diseases, with complications such as decreased salivary flow rate and xerostomia. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the salivary flow rate and xerostomia in type I and II diabetic patients in comparison with healthy controls. METHODS: This case-control study was performed on diabetic patients of a private office in Babol, Iran, between May 2015 and October 2016. This study involved two study groups (type I and II diabetes, with 40 in each group) and two control groups (control I and II, with 35 in each group) which were age- and sex-matched with the related study groups. They were all selected through simple sampling. Unstimulated whole saliva was collected through Navazesh method and the salivary flow rate was measured (ml/min). Xerostomia was evaluated via Fox’s test. Moreover, the patients’ data were recorded including age, sex, disease duration, type of diabetes, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and HbA1C. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by using SPSS version 17. Independent-samples t-test, Chi-square, Pearson correlation and multiple comparison post-hoc tests were employed as appropriated. p<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The mean salivary flow rate in type I diabetics (0.35±0.11 ml/min) was lower than that in control I (0.50±0.07 ml/min) (p=0.01). The same difference was observed between type II diabetics (0.37±0.13 ml/min) and control II groups (0.47±0.11 ml/min) (p=0.01). No significant difference was observed in the salivary flow rate between type I and II diabetics (p=0.345). Furthermore, xerostomia was higher in type I (2.70±2.50, 1.17±1.60) and II (2.65±2.20–1.62±1.50) diabetics compared with the related control groups (p=0.01), (p=0.02). CONCLUSION: Type I, II diabetic patients revealed lower salivary flow rate and higher xerostomia compared with healthy controls. The salivary flow rate and xerostomia had inverse correlation.