RESUMO
Aim and objectives: Dental caries is currently considered an ecological imbalance within the oral biofilm leading to the dissolution of the tooth's hard tissues. It has been traditionally thought that two species belonging to the Streptococci group, Streptococcus mutans (SM) and Streptococcus sanguinis (SS), are the etiologically responsible for the onset of dental decay. Materials and methods: The present in vivo study was conducted on 40 children with caries-active (CA) and caries-free (CF). They were allocated into two groups, group I (CA) = 20 and group II (CF) = 20. The whole saliva was collected into the vials with buffer solution and was stored in cold storage. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was done to identify and correlate SM and SS in CA and CF children. Results: Comparison of mean SM level between CA and CF groups showed a statistically significant result at p = 0.001. Spearman's correlation between caries score and SM showed a strong correlation of 0.77 between caries score and SM, which was statistically significant at p = 0.001. Similarly, SS and caries scores showed a weak correlation of 0.22. Simple linear regression analysis to SM and caries score showed a significant increase of 4.74 units for 1 score increase in caries score, which is statistically significant. Conclusion: The presence of SM levels in children with caries is significant, whereas, in CF children, SS levels are present in increased levels. A strong correlation was seen between caries scores and SM. The simple linear regression analysis predicts a statistically significant increase by 4.74 units per increase of 1 score of caries at p < 0.001. As caries increase, SM count increases, but SS count decreases; as SS count increases, there is a reduction in SM counts. How to cite this article: Thimmegowda U, Belagatta V, Chikkanarasaiah N, et al. Identification and Correlation of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguinis in Caries-active and Caries-free Children: A PCR Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2023;16(1):9-15.
RESUMO
Aim: The main objective of the present study was to estimate the production of hydrogen peroxide present in saliva and correlate it to early childhood caries using high-performance liquid chromatography [HPLC] method. Design: The study was conducted on children aged 3-6 years with a sample size of 20 who had decayed, missing, or filled teeth in accordance to WHO pro forma and were divided into two groups: Study group: Caries active [CA][n = 10] and Control group caries free [CF] [n = 10]. The whole saliva was collected into the vials with a buffer solution and was stored in cold storage. HPLC was done to estimate, detect, and correlate the amount of production of H2O2 in CA and CF groups. To compare age and gender distribution among two groups, Independent student "t" test was used. To compare the mean production of H2O2 levels between two study groups with a significance of p > 0.05 was done using Mann-Whitney U test. Spearman's correlation was done between caries and H2O2. Results: Comparison of mean H2O2 levels [in ppm] between groups was statistically significant at p = 0.03, which showed as age increases H2O2 production also increases. Age-wise estimation of H2O2 obtained a statistically significant result [p = 0.04]. However, gender-wise comparison of mean H2O2 levels [in ppm] in both the groups showed no difference. Conclusion: Findings in our study strongly suggested that H2O2 levels are more in children without any caries experience. H2O2 production is the same among males and females but according to age, H2O2 production increases as the child grows with age. How to cite this article: Thimmegowda U, Belagatta V, Krishnamurthy NH, et al. Identification, Quantification and Correlation of Hydrogen Peroxide Present in Saliva to Early Childhood Caries: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2022;15(S-2):S140-S146.
