A study to correlate dental caries experience with total antioxidant levels of saliva among adolescents in Mangalore

Abstract

Introduction: The changes in salivary composition could have some role in controlling and/or maintaining oxidative damage in the oral cavity. Many adolescents and children have inadequate oral and general health because of active and uncontrolled dental caries. Materials and Methods: Oral examination to assess the dental caries experience was carried out using decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index. The salivary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was measured by using "ammonium molybdate method." Data were analyzed using Pearsons correlation and one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni multiple comparison test. A P value of 0.05 was taken as the level of significance. Results: With increasing DMFT scores, TAC of saliva also increased correspondingly. When the TAC of saliva was correlated against DMFT scores, there was a correlation of 0.981 (P < 0.0005). Conclusion: With increasing dental caries experience, the TAC of saliva was found to increase. TAC of saliva could be a marker for dental caries activity among children.

Keywords

• Antioxidants
• dental caries
• saliva