ABSTRACT
Background: Salivary infection due to Streptococci mutans is considered the main microbiological risk factor for the initiation of dental caries. Aim: To evaluate a semi-quantitative method to assess Streptococci mutans salivary infection and compare it with the existing quantitative method. Patient and methods: Saliva samples were obtained from 650 pre-school children aged 2 to 6 years old using a TYCSB liquid medium for counting Streptococci mutans. Results were compared with quantitative cultures. Results: There was a 99.3 percent linear correlation coefficient between both methods. The correlation coefficients with dental caries prevalence were 97 percent for the semi quantitative method and 90 percent for the quantitative method. Conclusions: The semi-quantitative method to assess oral infection with Streptococci mutans, is accurate enough to be used in population studies and oral infection prevention programs in developing countries
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Child, Preschool , Female , Child , Streptococcus mutans , Dental Caries , Risk Factors , Culture Media , Mouth DiseasesABSTRACT
Background: High fluorine concentrations in drinking water are associated with a decrease in the amount of salivary S mutants. Taking into account that clinical dental fluorosis can appear with 1.5 ppm of fluorine in the drinking water, fluorine concentration in Mami-a is 2.4 ppm. Aim: To quantify salivary S mutans in school age children from Mami-a, a zone with a high fluorine content in the drinking water, during one year. Material and methods: During 1997 and 1998, dental health was assessed and salivary samples were obtained from 51 children (27 male) aged 10 ñ 2 years to quantify S mutans. Results: Most children studied had more than 105 salivary S mutans colony forming units. No changes in the rates of infection or dental health characteristics were observed during the observation year. Conclusions: High fluorine content in the drinking water did not have an effect on salivary S mutans infection in this population
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Streptococcus mutans/isolation & purification , Fluorosis, Dental/epidemiology , Saliva/microbiology , Drinking Water , Fluoridation/adverse effects , Oral Hygiene IndexABSTRACT
Background: Salivary Streptococci mutans contamination is considered the main microbiological risk factor for the initiation of caries. Aim: To assess the oral health of pregnant women, counting Salivary Streptococci mutants. Patients and methods: One hundred seventy four pregnant women, in the first, second and third trimester of pregnancy, aged 27 ñ 5 years old, consulting at a public primary health center, were studied. Puerperal women that had their delivery two months before, were studied as a control group. Salivary samples were obtained and Streptococci mutans colonies were counted using quantitative and semiquantitative methods. Results: There was a good concordance between both counting methods. No differences in Streptococci mutans counts were observed among the three groups of pregnant women, but the latter as a group had higher counts than puerperal women. Women with more than 5 caries had also higher counts. Conclusions: Semiquantitative Streptococci mutans counts are easy, rapid and non invasive and have a good concordance with quantitative counts in saliva
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Pregnancy , Adult , Saliva/microbiology , Streptococcus mutans/isolation & purification , Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/microbiology , Pregnancy Trimester, First , Streptococcus mutans/pathogenicity , Cross-Sectional Studies , Dental Caries/etiology , Dental Caries/microbiology , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
Considerando que cada dia se utilizan más técnicas para evaluar "riesgo de caries", se utilizaron a través de 2 métodos microbiológicos: cuantitativo y semi-cuantitativo el recuento de colonias (UFC) de S. mutans/ml saliva, en 112 adultos jóvenes (68 mujeres y 44 hombres) estudiantes de Odontología, U. de Chile 1994, cuyo promedio de edad era 18.9 años. El porcentaje de estudiantes considerados como de alto riesgo (= a 1 x 10 elevado a 5 a 1 x 10 elevado a 6) correspondió al 31.2 porciento. En cuanto al número de caries diagnosticadas, tanto clínicas como radiográficas, en los grupos clasificados como de mayor o menor riesgo carioso, los resultados no mostraron una relación directa con el promedio de S muutans