Abstract
Objective: Early childhood caries is the presence of dental caries in a child upto seventy one months of age. Saliva plays a major role in maintaining good oral health. The composition of saliva acts as a marker for oral health and the salivary proteins help in modulating the oral microflora in the oral cavity. Some salivary biomarkers help in detecting caries risk and can also predict their prognosis. Ferritin is one of the major biomarkers present in the saliva which acts as an iron binding protein and also as a monitoring tool in children suffering from iron deficiency. The ferritin levels are in increased in serum as well as in saliva to balance the deficiency of iron in the body. Material and methods: Sixty children were selected for the study aged between three to six years. The saliva sample was collected using standard spit method in a sterile container and Ferritin was tested in the samples by Chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay(CMIA). Results: Salivary ferritin was found to be higher in the saliva of children with early childhood caries(mean value= 5.867) than in children without early childhood caries(mean value= 3.412). Conclusion: A direct association is present between salivary ferritin levels and dental caries. Increased level of ferritin is observed in children with Early childhood caries. Clinical relevance: The level of salivary ferritin is found to be raised in the present study in children with Early childhood caries. The exact mechanism is although not known it can be assumed that the children with early childhood caries might have deficiency of iron which has led to the increased amount of salivary ferritin in the saliva. Keywords Salivary ferritin; Early childhood caries; Salivary proteins; Saliva; Iron deficiency
Highlights
P resence of one or more decayed, missing, or filled tooth surfaces in any primary tooth in a child 71 months of age or younger is termed as Early childhood caries [1]
The investigation indicated that salivary ferritin was found to be higher in children with Early childhood caries than in children without Early childhood caries
Repeated saliva samples can be collected from the children for many days to rule out possibilities of nutrition deficiency. It was concluded based on the discussion and results of this study that there was an association between early childhood caries and salivary ferritin
Summary
P resence of one or more decayed (cavitated or non cavitated lesions), missing (due to caries), or filled tooth surfaces in any primary tooth in a child 71 months of age or younger is termed as Early childhood caries [1]. Primary teeth having smooth surface caries when a child is up to 3 years is referred to as severe early childhood caries [2]. If the salivary flow is decreased it leads to marked increase in dental caries [6]. Saliva has an essential biomarker called salivary ferritin which plays an important role in storage of iron. It was noted that in cases of iron deficiency the level of salivary ferritin in the saliva is increased [910]. The salivary glands are usually impaired in case of any nutritional deficiency which leads to the reduced flow of saliva [11]. This might be a major causative factor of Early childhood caries
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