Introduction:

Oral cancer is a common health problem worldwide.

Objective:

Compare the salivary pH range changes among patients diagnosed recently with oral squamous cells carcinoma after receiving oncospecific treatment and subjects apparently healthy, Guantanamo, Cuba, period time November 2019 -January 2022.

Method:

A descriptive, comparative, cross-sectional study was carried out in outpatients of the Maxillofacial Surgery Consultation room at the Hospital General Docente "Dr. Agostinho Neto". The study group consisted of 200 patients divided into 3 subgroups: subgroup I (50 newly diagnosed patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma, with concomitant diagnosis of dental caries and chronic adult periodontitis); subgroup II (50 patients with the aforementioned pathology after oncospecific treatment, treated for the aforementioned oral diseases) and subgroup III (100 apparently healthy control patients). The following variables were studied: age, sex, type of diet and salivary pH.

Results:

Average age was 59.8 years, 70% were men. There was an association between the diet consumed and each subgroup (p= 0.001). The salivary pH of newly diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma patients affected by both oral diseases was acidic (6.25±0.37) compared to the other subgroups. The 98.6% of patients with acid salivary pH presented a usual diet based on carbohydrates and fats (p=0.000).

Conclusions:

It was shown that the salivary pH of newly diagnosed patients with squamous cell carcinoma was acidic compared to the other subgroups. Therefore, this parameter can be used as a biological marker of the disease.

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