Abstract
Several methods have been devised for the collection of the salivary secretions of man, but most of them are either troublesome or inaccurate. The method presented here is applicable to the collection of the secretions of the parotid, sublingual, and submaxillary glands separately and simultaneously on both sides.
The method consists of applying pieces of tared absorbent material to the various duct openings, absorbing the secretions for the desired length of time, and then reweighing to nearest .05 gm. The quantity collected is given by difference. It is simpler to collect the secretions from the 3 pairs of glands separately, and the nasal tampons marketed by Johnson and Johnson are found to be the most satisfactory absorbent material.
To collect the secretions of the parotid glands, the floor of the mouth is packed off with dental rolls, and strips of tared nasal tampons about 4 cm. long are placed over the openings of Stenson's ducts. The strips will remain in place without support. They may be left in place until their thickness has doubled. This will require anywhere from one to 5 minutes depending on the rate of secretion and will represent a collection of one to 2 gm. of material. In collecting the secretions of the sublingual and submaxillary glands the parotids are packed off with dental rolls. Strips of nasal tampons are laid upon the ducts of Rivini bilaterally, and 2 other strips of the absorbent material separated by a piece of X-ray film and held by a clamp as illustrated in the accompanying cut, are placed on the openings of Wharton's ducts. Obviously, care must be taken to assure that the septum of X-ray film passes and remains between the 2 submaxillary ducts so that the secretion from each duct is absorbed on the proper strip.
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