A Demonstration of the Importance of Bicarbonate as a Salivary Buffer

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Abstract
The buffer values of 11 samples of paraffin-stimulated human mixed saliva and 3 samples each of pilocarpine-stimulated dog parotid and submaxillary saliva were calculated for their CO2 dissociation curves. The mean total buffer values calculated at pH 7, 7.7 and 7.3, respectively, are 0.0263 [image], 0.0485 [image] and 0.0331 [image], for the 3 types of saliva, respectively. In all cases the bicarbonates constitute from 80 to 95% of the total buffer value. The remainder is probably due to the phosphates and proteins.