Evaluation of calcium concentration in saliva of Iraqi male smokers

Calcium is the major component of bones and teeth, and it is not surprising that disturbances in calcium metabolism have been implicated in most of the major chronic diseases, including renal disease, osteoporosis; and periodontal tissues Saliva is a secretion which plays an important role in initial digestive processes and in maintaining homeostasis of the oral cavity environment. Constant presence of saliva in the oral cavity helps to keep its tissues in healthy condition. Secretion of calcium in saliva depends on many physiological factors such as salivary flow rates and pH of oral environment. Fifteen Iraqi males were considered in this study with age range 49-52 years old. They were smoking 30-40 cigarette per day with nicotine contain of about 0.81-1.2 mg per cigarette Significant increasing in calcium concentration was observed in the smokers in comparison with the non-smokers with a mean changes 0.538 ± 0.410 SD. The pH values of saliva were decreased to 6.22 while for the non smokers was 7.12.Our result predicted elevated levels of calcium concentration of the smoker's saliva than the non smokers. This increasing in concentration we attributed to decrease of pH of saliva which retrieving calcium from teeth or aging process that attributed decrease in skeleton density than release of calcium from bone and teeth to circulation or hormonal changes.