I am having a debate on another message board about the ph of normal saliva which stemmed from a website that said that baby saliva is ‘highly’ acidic. I seemed to recall from high school biology that normal adult saliva should be slightly alkaline. I have searched on the net and discovered varying opinions from 7.7 to 6.3 as ph for normal adult saliva which doesn’t really help me .
I was also quoted the following:
but the person could only find the abstract and was searching for the exact amount.
I am more interested in finding cites that tell me what the exact ph of baby saliva should be, but am also interested in definitive cites about ph of adult saliva.
The CRC Handbook (82nd edition, 2001-2002) lists human saliva as being between 6.5-7.5 at 25 degrees Celcius. Sorry it’s quite a range, and it doesn’t specify baby versus adult. Sadly, I don’t happen to have a vial of baby spit, or I would test the stuff out at work tomorrow!
Not sure if I’m completely understanding this article, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, but it sounds like it’s saying that plaque on your teeth can affect the pH of your saliva. So if babies don’t have any teeth, their saliva may indeed have slightly different pH than adults.
What’s the nature of the discussion on the other message board?
If you have a medical library nearby, especially one affiliated with a dental school, trek on down and find this article:
Magnusson B. The pH of the saliva during the first year of life. Odontologisk Tidskrift. 76(3):273-8, 1968 Jun 28
Unfortunately, no abstract available.
Unfortunately I am on a small island in the Caribbean and no medical school library available, but that sounds like exactly what I am looking for.
As for the nature of the debate, I was bothered by the choice of the words ‘highly’ acidic (as it implied ‘strongly’ acidic) and I thought I remembered from my high school biology class that saliva was alkaline. I have been proved incorrect on that point (in that adult saliva can range from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline), but the author of the website has agreed to reword the article as she agreed that it can be misleading. I am going to point her towards the above article and maybe she will be able to find it.
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