Saliva Crystallogram as a Non-Invasive Test for Evaluating the Calcium-Phosphorus Composition of Tooth Tissue (Experimental Study)

Introduction. Calcium and phosphorus play the most important role in the functioning of bone
tissue of the tooth and development of caries. In this regard, determination of the content of these
elements in bone tissue of the tooth is extremely important. At the same time, there are currently
no non-invasive methods for intravital determination of the level of calcium and phosphorus in the
bone tissue of the tooth. The formation of saliva crystals largely depends on its mineral composition
and ability to participate in the remineralization of tooth bone tissue.
Purpose. The aim of this work was to develop a method for non-invasive determination of the level
of calcium and phosphorus in the bone by the picture of its microcrystals.
Materials and methods. The experiment was conducted on 120 non-benign laboratory male rats.
Salivary fluid was collected before slaughtering animals. Saliva was dried at room temperature on
a glass slide. The number and force of the crystals were examined on a Leika DM 2000 microscope.
Calcium and phosphorus were determined in the extracted teeth using an inductively coupled
plasma mass spectrometer Varian 810-MS from Bruker (USA). The content of the elements was
calculated according to the calibration graph of the internal standards of Inorganic ventures-
ICPMS-71A (USA). Animals with 3 months of administration of drugs capable of increasing bone
calcification (atorvastatin and α-calcidol) were used as a control group for correct calculation.
Results and discussion. As a result of the research, a logistic regression formula was developed, which
allows calculating the level of calcium and phosphorus in the bone tissue of the tooth of laboratory
animals. The developed model for determination of calcium was characterized by 88.1% accuracy,
88.0% sensitivity, and 88.24% specificity. The phosphorus model was characterized by 76.19% accuracy,
68.18% sensitivity, and 85.0% specificity. The changes of the level of calcium and phosphorus when
taking atorvastatin and α-calcidol confirm the correctness of the developed models.
Conclusions. The developed method can be used in scientific laboratories involved in the
development of methods for pharmacological correction of the mineral composition of bone tissue
of teeth.