the effect of smoking on mineral and protein composition of saliva

introduction: to assess the salivary composition of proteins and minerals in smokers compared with non-smokers.   materials and methods: in this study we compared the total protein and ca, na, k, mg, pb of whole saliva in two groups of men (28 smokers and 31nonsmokers) aged between 29-41years.   results: fifty-nine participants were evaluated. the mean age was 33.14±5.32 years among smokers and 32.15±5.12 years among non-smokers (p>0.05). the mean concentration of total protein, ca, pb,and zn of whole saliva in smokers was lower than that in non-smokers, but the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). the mean concentration of na, k, mg in whole saliva was not significantly different between smokers and non-smokers (p>0.05).   conclusion:  we specified that smoking reduced the value of total protein, ca and pb of saliva, however it did not havean impact on na, k, and mg of saliva.