UNSTIMULATED SALIVARY FLOW RATE AND ITS EFFECT ON DENTAL CARIES ALONG WITH AGE AND GENDER AMONG DIFFERENT DENTITION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
*Dr. Aditi Mathur, Dr. Anmol Mathur and Dr. Vikram Pal Aggarwal
ABSTRACT
Context: Among the oral diseases, dental caries has emerged as the most common chronic disease of human race. Saliva and its properties can be used as an aid to identify the caries status and its risk of progression for young children population. The recent trend towards diagnostic aids has been towards non-invasive and easy to conduct tests which saliva fulfils and it is not just easy to conduct but readily acceptable by the population who are in need. Methods and Material: A total of 60 Children belonging to age groups 3-5 year and 12-14 year without any systemic and local disease were included in the study who were further stratified into 2 categories low and high caries group depending on their caries status. 5 cc of unstimulated saliva were collected in special tubes, followed by a non-invasive dental examination by a single examiner. Anova and student t test were applied to test the level of association between the salivary-flow rate among the different age groups and low and high caries group of both the age groups. The excel was further analysed using SPSS version 14. Results: A total of 60 children were recruited constituting 32 males and 28 females, 34 belong to12 to 14 years age group whereas 26 belong to 3-5 years age group. Higher mean salivary flow rate of 0.63 for 12-14 years compared to 0.52 for 3-5 year old children was reported. A mean salivary flow rate of 0.59 and 0.73 is being reported for low caries group among 3-5 and 12-14 years age group respectively. Conclusion: Mean salivary flow rate was found to increase with age. High caries is being reported among population with less mean salivary flow rate.
Keywords: Saliva; Dental Caries; Children.
[Full Text Article]
[Download Certificate]