Distribution of sucrose around the mouth and its clearance after a sucrose mouthrinse or consumption of three different foods.

Abstract

The distribution of sucrose in whole saliva and in saliva from seven different regions of the mouth was determined in 10 subjects over the 10-min period following the chewing of a doughnut, sucking on a mint candy, the drinking of orange juice, or use of a 10% sucrose mouthrinse. With all products, the sucrose was distributed non-uniformly, with particularly low concentrations on the lingual surfaces of the lower incisors and the facial surfaces of the upper molars. Clearance was also most rapid from these sites. Since the depth and duration of a Stephan curve in dental plaque is influenced by the sugar concentration to which the plaque is exposed, the results, together with previous results on salivary film velocity in different regions of the mouth, help to provide an explanation for the site-specificity of smooth-surface caries and of supragingival calculus deposition.