Salivary pH and oral health of Brazilian para-athletes: Saliva and oral health of para-athletes.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the association of the salivary pH and parameters of oral health in Brazilian para-athletes.

Methods And Results: The sample was composed of 271 Brazilian para-athletes (147 athletics, 61 powerlifting, and 63 swimming); mean age was 31.2 ± 11.7 years. Data collected during anamnesis, clinical examination, and saliva collection revealed that salivary pH was different among sports (p = .01) and tends to decrease as age and body mass index (BMI) increase (p = .026, .027, respectively). The mean decay missing filled teeth was 8.8 (±0.57), but there is no correlation with salivary pH (R  = -0.0852; CI 95%, -0.215-0.047; p = .194) as habits of grinding, clenching teeth, or bruxism was not associated with salivary pH (p = .317, .932, and .444, respectively). Regarding breathing, para-athletes that have buccal breathing had significantly higher salivary pH (p = .04). This data were confirmed by multiple logistic regression (p = .05). Open bite, lip seal, geographic or fissured tongue also were not associated with variation of salivary pH (p > .05).

Conclusions: This study provided evidence of an association between salivary pH with age, BMI, type of breathing, and type of sport practiced by the para-athletes.