The purpose of this study is to evaluate salivary flow rate, salivary pH, and cariogenic activity using unstimulated saliva of the head and neck cancer patients. Twenty three cancer patients (19 males, 4 females) who had undergone chemotherapy and radiation therapy and twenty four healthy volunteers (14 males, 10 females) as a control were included. Salivary flow rate, salivary pH, and cariogenic activity using unstimulated saliva were examined. Compared to saliva of the control group, salivary flow rate (p<0.001) and salivary pH (p<0.001) were significantly lower in head and neck cancer patients. The colony counts of Lactobacilli was higher in head and neck cancer patients (p<0.05) than in control group. These salivary factors and cariogenic activity can increase the prevalence of dental caries in head and neck cancer patients.

This study was conducted to investigate the quality characteristics of the natural dishwashing liquid added with the mixture extracts of Curcuma Longa L. (CL), Morus alba (MA) and Ecklonia cava (EC) at various concentrations. The pH and lightness of the natural dishwashing liquid were reduced by adding the mixture extracts, while the turbidity was increased. The natural dish washing liquid added with mixture extracts was shown to display strong antimicrobial activities against L. monocytogenes compared to that of control. Also, it revealed that antioxidant activity was increased depending on concentrations. However, natural dishwashing liquid added with mixture extracts showed the low detergency efficiency. In sensory evaluation, the natural dishwashing liquid containing CL 0.5%, MA 0.25% and EC 0.25% was preferred than the control and it showed negative result in skin patch test. These results suggest that the addition of CL 0.5%, MA 0.25% and EC 0.25% positively improved the qualities characteristics in the natural dish washing liquid.