International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (www.ijhsr.org) 99 Vol.8; Issue: 3; March 2018 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research www.ijhsr.org ISSN: 2249-9571 Original Research Article Study of Salivary Electrolytes in Diabetic and Non- Diabetic Patients with Active Caries Mariam Faisal Aburuzaiza 1 , Amal M. Aldeeb 2 , Fathy M. Elfasakhany 3 1 Dental intern, 2 Professor of Oral Pathology, Department of Basic and Clinical Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, 3 Associate professor of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Basic and Clinical Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Tanta, Egypt. Corresponding Author: Mariam Faisal Aburuzaiza ABSTRACT Background: Dental caries is a major oral health problem in most countries. It is defined as the breakdown of the hard tooth structure due to activities of bacteria. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, life- long condition which occurs because either the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin or the target cells in the body have become resistant to insulin. People with diabetes mellitus have predisposing factors to increased risk of dental caries. Saliva is an indicator of health of the oral cavity and containing many elements like sodium, magnesium, potassium and chloride that can be used as biomarkers. Salivary biomarkers are utilized to measure and evaluate the normal biologic and pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate and compare the salivary electrolyte levels (K, Cl and Na) between caries active type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and caries active non-diabetic patients. Materials and methods: This study included 40 randomly selected adult individuals classified into three groups, 10 caries free individuals (control group), 15 subjects with T2DM and active dental caries, 15 non diabetic patients with active dental caries. Analysis was performed using SPSS software version 17. DMFT score (Decayed, Missing, Filled Tooth) was calculated for each patient. Unstimulated saliva from each patient was collected into sterile tubes after the use of the mouth rinse with 15 ml of distilled water and salivary sodium, potassium and chloride were determined using Elyte 3 Kit and using spectrophotometric technique. Results: Salivary potassium is significantly higher in T2DM with active caries than control group. There was no statistically significant difference of salivary Cl and Na between all groups (P >0.05). Conclusions: It could be concluded that there is a positive relationship between salivary electrolyte levels (salivary potassium) and diabetes mellitus with dental caries than non-diabetic patients with active caries or the control subjects. Key words: salivary sodium, potassium, chloride, dental caries, T2DM INTRODUCTION Oral health is Important and essential for the general health. The most common oral diseases that may affect our oral health are dental caries, periodontal disease, oral cancer, trauma from injuries and hereditary lesions. [1] Dental caries is a major oral health problem. It is the most prevalent disease worldwide. [2] Approximately 2.43 billion people (36% of the population) have dental caries in their permanent teeth. In baby teeth it affects about 620 million people or 9% of the population. [3] It is a breakdown of teeth due