ABSTRACT
HYPOTHESIS: Proinflammatory cytokines are increased in saliva of mother/children pairs with caries. DESIGN: Case-control study involving caries-free children (nâ¯=â¯20) and children with early childhood caries (ECC) (nâ¯=â¯20), and their mothers (nâ¯=â¯40). The maternal variables analyzed were waist circumference (WC), decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) and sugar intake; and in the children were body mass index (BMI), def-t and sugar intake. Salivary levels of VEGF, IL-6 and TNF-α were analyzed of mother/children pairs. RESULTS: In the mothers, salivary VEGF levels were correlated with DMFT (râ¯=â¯0.35; pâ¯=â¯.03), WC (râ¯=â¯0.35; pâ¯=â¯.02), and sugar intake (râ¯=â¯0.32; pâ¯=â¯.04). Higher salivary IL-6 levels were also correlated with maternal DMFT (râ¯=â¯0.45; pâ¯=â¯.004) and WC (râ¯=â¯0.32; pâ¯=â¯.04). In the children, higher salivary VEGF levels were correlated with higher def-t scores (râ¯=â¯0.42; pâ¯=â¯.008). Children with caries had a 63% higher median salivary VEGF and twofold higher mean IL-6 levels compared to caries-free children. Mothers of children with ECC showed higher mean of salivary IL-6 levels compared to those of children without ECC (pâ¯=â¯.03). CONCLUSION: Salivary proinflammatory cytokines are correlated with the severity of caries in the mother-children pair. Obesity and excessive sugar consumption seem to underlie the associations between proinflammatory cytokines and caries in the family environment.