Effect of dental treatments on salivary immunoglobulin A of children with and without dental caries: A comparative study.

Aim: To evaluate and compare the effect of dental treatment on the salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels of children with and without dental caries. Materials and Methods: The study involved 30 children, among which 15 had caries and the other 15 were without caries. Salivary sample collection was done for all the children before dental treatment, and for the children with caries, the sampling was repeated 3-4 weeks after the dental treatment. The salivary IgA quantitation was done by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), using Human IgA ELISA Quantitation kit, and the results were statistically analyzed by independent sample "t" test. Results:The salivary IgA level was significantly more in children with caries (13.07 ± 1.55 mg/100 ml) than in caries-free children (11.90 ± 1.58 mg/100 ml) in the pre-treatment phase. The salivary IgA level in children with caries was 13.52 ± 1.68 mg/100 ml in the post-treatment phase and it was not statistically different from the pre-treatment value. Conclusion: Mere quantitation of salivary IgA levels might have no reflection on the functional antibodies involved in caries process, and successful dental treatment alone does not alter the salivary IgA levels, suggesting a multifaceted approach to combat the cariogenic challenge.

Endodontic treatment in primary molars with taurodontism.

Dental morphological traits are of particular importance in the study of phylogenetic relationships and population affinities. One of the most important abnormalities in tooth morphology is Taurodontism. Taurodontism can be defined as a change in tooth shape caused by the failure of Hertwig’s epithelial sheath diaphragm to invaginate at the proper horizontal level. An enlarged pulp chamber, apical displacement of the pulpal floor, and no constriction at the level of the cementoenamel junction are the characteristic features. Although permanent molar teeth are most commonly affected, this change is very rarely seen in primary dentition. Taurodontism has a very low incidence in primary dentition and very few cases have been reported in the literature. Endodontic treatment of a taurodont tooth is challenging, because it requires special care in handling and identifying the canal obliteration and configuration and the potential for additional root canal systems. This paper highlights a case report of taurodontism in primary molars of a five year old male child with endodontic treatment.

Hypohydrotic ectodermal dysplasia -a case report.

Ectodermal dysplasia is a rare hereditary disorder. Its Hypohidrotic (HED) variant is also known as Chirst- Siemens-Touraine syndrome. It is inherited as an X- linked trait. Such Patients are characterized by the clinical manifestations of Hypodontia, Hypotrichosis, Hypohidrosis and a highly characteristic facial physiognomy. This article, reports a typical case of Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia (HED) and management.

The relationship of salivary immunoglobulin-A with dental caries and oral hygiene status in Down’s syndrome children.

A positive correlation between salivary IgA antibody levels to Streptococcus mutans and caries resistance in adults has been reported in literature. Such a correlation is also observed in Down’s syndrome population but lacks sufficient data support. The present study was conducted to assess the relationship of salivary IgA with dental caries and oral hygiene status in Down’s syndrome (DS) children compared to control group of normal subjects (NS) of school children of Chidambaram. The study population consisted of 80 subjects aged 8-14 years who were divided into four groups: Group 1 – DS subjects with DMFS= 0, Group 2 - NS with DMFS=0, Group 3 - DS subjects with DMFS= 3 and above and Group 4- NS with DMFS= 3 and above.Clinical examination was done and the study population was examined for the assessment of dental caries status (WHO 1987) and oral hygiene status (OHI -S Index). Unstimulated total saliva samples were collected and s-IgA concentration was evaluated by ELISA. Scheffe test (Intergroup comparison) and Pearson test (correlation analysis) were used to analyze the data. In DS subjects, a negative correlation of s-IgA with DMFS and OHI-S scores was found; the s-IgA levels were significantly higher, prevalence of dental caries was very low and oral hygiene status was not properly maintained when compared to the normal subjects. In the control group, a positive correlation of s-IgA with DMFS and OHI-S scores was found.