Effectiveness of Salivary Glucose as a Reliable Alternative in Diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to ascertain the reliability of using salivary glucose in diagnosing and monitoring the blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetic patients and also to evaluate the salivary glucose in fasting and postprandial states and correlate with the blood glucose levels and hemoglobin A1c values. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 79 Type 1 diabetic patients and 100 healthy controls. The blood and salivary glucose levels were evaluated in both study and control groups using glucose-oxidase peroxidase method. RESULTS: There was significantly higher level of salivary glucose in diabetics than in controls. There was a positive moderate-to-strong correlation between stimulated and unstimulated salivary glucose to blood glucose in both fasting and postprandial states. The cutoff values for stimulated and unstimulated fasting salivary glucose was 5.8 mg/dl and 5.6 mg/dl, respectively. The cutoff value for stimulated and unstimulated salivary glucose in postprandial state was 10.3 mg/dl and 9.5 mg/dl, respectively. CONCLUSION: Salivary glucose appears to be a reliable biofluid to assess the blood glucose levels and can be a reliable alternative to blood glucose in Type 1 diabetes mellitus patients.