Levels Of Caries Activity Research Articles

STATE OF ORAL HYGIENE, RATE OF SALIVATION AND VISCOSITY OF ORAL LIQUID IN 3-6 YEARS OLD AGED CHILDREN, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE DEGREE OF CARIES ACTIVITY

Oral fluid performs a number of important functions: mineralizing, protective, cleansing, creating an optimal environment for the functioning of the hard tissues of the teeth. Research results show that the condition of the oral cavity, its biophysical and biochemical indicators provide information on the general resistance of the body. The possibility of complicating both dental diseases and somatic pathology at the expense of each other has been proven, that is, there is a mutual aggravation. The indicators were studied taking into account the age of the children and the degree of caries activity in them. 335 children aged 3-6 years were examined. Oral hygiene index according to Fedorov-Volodkina was determined in each age period and taking into account the degree of caries activity. Thus, children without caries and children with a compensated degree of caries activity in all age groups had a satisfactory state of oral hygiene. A comparison of 3-year-old children, but of different groups by the degree of caries activity, did not reveal a probable difference in the state of hygiene. And in 4, 5, and 6-year-olds with subcompensated and decompensated levels of caries activity, a probable difference in the state of oral hygiene was revealed. We observe a significant increase in the hygiene index in the entire group of children aged 3-6 years, respectively, with an increase in the Decay Extracted Filling index (р < 0,01; р < 0,001). The rate of salivation in the examined children of all groups corresponded to the norm or was at the level of slight hyposalivation. During the examination, a significant decrease in the numerical values of the salivary rate was found in children with subcompensated and decompensated caries activity compared to healthy children and with compensated caries activity. Studying the viscosity index of oral fluid, a probable increase in the index was established in children with subcompensated and decompensated levels of caries activity compared to healthy children in each age group. In children with a decompensated degree of caries activity, the highest index of oral fluid viscosity was found in each age group.
 The results of the examination showed a significant deterioration of oral hygiene in children with various degrees of caries activity compared to children without caries. The rate of saliva secretion is also likely to decrease, and the viscosity of the oral fluid increases as the caries situation in the oral cavity worsens in all age groups. Considering the multifactorial etiology of caries, it is necessary to continue the study of the relationship between the occurrence of caries in children, taking into account the influence of oral fluid and morphological features of the occlusal surface on the state of resistance of the hard tissues of the teeth.

Influence of caries activity and number of saliva donors: mineral and microbiological responses in a microcosm biofilm model.

Objective this study evaluated the mineral and microbiological response of biofilms originating from different types of saliva inoculum with distinct levels of caries activity.Methodology the biofilms grown over enamel specimens originated from saliva collected from a single donor or five donors with two distinct levels of caries activity (caries-active and caries-free) or from pooling saliva from ten donors (five caries-active and five caries-free). The percentage surface hardness change (%SHC) and microbiological counts served as outcome variables.Results the caries activity of donors did not affect the %SHC values. Inoculum from five donors compared to a single donor showed higher %SHC values (p=0.019). Higher lactobacilli counts were observed when saliva from caries-active donors was used as the inoculum (p=0.017). Pooled saliva from both caries activity levels showed higher mutans streptococci counts (p<0.017).Conclusion Overall, pooled saliva increased the mineral response of the derived biofilms, but all the inoculum conditions formed cariogenic biofilms and caries lesions independently of caries activity.

Significance of the D4MF(T+t) index for the children with prematurely extracted teeth

Premature extraction of temporary teeth is a consequence of different factors such as socio-economic status of the population, level of caries activity, oral hygiene, presence of fluoride in water, philosophy of the dentist. The aim of this article is to compare the DMF (T+t) between children with premature extraction and those without premature extraction. Subject of monitoring of the clinical research were 140 children between 6 and 9 years old. The clinical group consisted of 90 children with prematurely extracted teeth, divided into three groups. The control group consisted of 50 children with intact denture. The dental status was examined and registered according to the WHO by the DMF (T+t). There was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of caries DMF(T+t) between the control groups (2.34±019) and clinical groups (between 5.17±0.33 and 6.40±0.41). The children with premature extraction of temporary teeth had higher caries activity compared to the control group (children without early loss of teeth). The children with prematurely extracted temporary teeth and severe orthodontic deformation had the highest prevalence of DMF(T+t). These results demonstrate the connection between DMF(T+t), malocclusions and the need for prophylaxis.

Salivary pH Levels and Caries among Siblings and Parents within Families

High level of caries activity is related to organisms in the dental plaque with high acidogenesis capacity. To test salivary pH in children of the same family and compare it with their caries status. To compare pH levels between children and their parents. To examine the relationship between pH and caries status among children of the same family and their parents. We examined 123 children and adolescents aged 3-18, (73 boys and 50 girls) and 33 adults, (12 men and 21 women), parents of these children. Caries status was examined clinically, using DMF index. Salivary pH measurements were made by a digital pH meter. Among adults, increase in patient age led to increased DMF (p = 0.005). The higher the pH, the lower the DMF (p = 0.037). Among men, DMF was lower by 3 compared to women (p = 0.049). Children's pH correlated with the parents' (p = 0.004). Children's DMF correlated to their pH (p = 0.001). Children's pH was the best predictor of their DMF (R2 = 0.309, p = 0.001). Among children, the higher the pH, the lower the DMFT. Children's pH was the best predictor of their DMF.

Dentin caries activity in early occlusal lesions selected to receive operative treatment: Findings from the Practitioners Engaged in Applied Research and Learning (PEARL) Network

Members of the practice-based research network Practitioners Engaged in Applied Research and Learning (PEARL) Network investigated the dentin caries activity in early occlusal lesions and its relationship to patient age, preoperative tooth sensitivity and radiographic appearance, as well as its influence on preparation depth and volume. PEARL Network practitioner-investigators (P-Is) (n = 45), general dentists who were trained but whose methods were not calibrated, conducted a study regarding postoperative hypersensitivity in resin-based composite restorations. The P-Is enrolled as study participants 613 patients with occlusal carious lesions that, in the P-Is' clinical judgment, required restoration. The P-Is used baseline radiographs to assess the depth and extent of the lesions. Data for 671 restorations included baseline sensitivity; ranking of dentin caries activity on the opening of the enamel; radiographic visibility (n = 652); and measurements of preparation depth, width and length. P-Is found rapidly progressing dentin caries in 38.5 percent (258 of 671) of lesions and slowly progressing (and potentially inactive dentin) caries in the remainder of the lesions. Rapidly progressing caries was not related to the participant's age or participant-reported preoperative hypersensitivity but was related to the lesion depth as seen radiographically (P < .001) and depth (P < .001) and volume (P < .001) of the preparation. Molars had slightly higher but not statistically significant levels of caries activity. Rapidly progressing dentin caries, while present in only 38.5 percent of lesions, was related to the lesion's radiographic appearance but not to the participant's age or the study tooth's pre-operative sensitivity. On the basis of the low level of rapidly progressing dentin caries in this study population and the fact that slowly progressing caries can be inactive or remineralizing, the authors advise sealing versus operative treatment of early or shallow occlusal lesions.

Level of caries activity and an estimate in the increase of permanent teeth caries: a three-year follow up study in preschool senior children

The aim of this study was to examine relationships between the level of caries activity in preschool senior children and the increase of dental caries 3 years after the permanent teeth erupted. A total of 1133 preschool senior children aged 5–6 years were examined yearly during 3-year duration. A Caries Activity Test (Cariostat Test) was used at the first examination of this study. The results were as follows; 1. The caries prevalence rate of the subjects was 84.1% and the mean dft was 5.89 at the first examination. 2. There was a significant relationship between the CAT score and dft at the first examination ( P < 0.001). 3. The subjects were divided into 3 risk groups by CAT score: low-risk group (20.4%), middle-risk group (43.3%) and high-risk group (36.3%). 4. Increments of DFT from 1 year to 3 years after the permanent tooth erupted for the high-risk group were more than twice for those of the low-risk group ( P < 0.001). The prevalence of the permanent tooth decay for the high-risk group was also higher than that of the low-risk group ( P < 0.001). The results showed that the usage of the CAT Test for preschool senior children was useful to predict increase in permanent teeth caries over 3-year duration.

Level of caries activity and an estimate in the increase of permanent teeth caries: a three-year follow up study in preschool senior children

Level of caries activity and an estimate in the increase of permanent teeth caries: a three-year follow up study in preschool senior children

The role of risk factors in the identification of appropriate subjects for caries clinical trials: design considerations.

In seeking new and more effective therapies to delay or prevent caries development, investigators must design clinical trials focused on high-risk populations with a predictable incidence of caries over a limited period of time. In children and adolescents, the strongest predictors of caries incidence appear to be baseline levels of caries activity (present caries, e.g., dmfs, DMFT, caries lesions in first molars). Other predictors of caries risk typically include oral hygiene level, counts of cariogenic micro-organisms in plaque and saliva, fluoride history, sucrose intake, and parent's socio-economic level. This paper will briefly review existing literature to address the most useful and relevant prognostic factors for predicting future caries onset. The relative merits of identifying high-risk subjects based on these factors, either singly or in combination, will be explored in terms of statistical efficiency. Particular attention will focus on the advantages of covariate adjustment in the context of survival-based methods for the analysis of caries data. Further, with the advent of more sophisticated diagnostic procedures (e.g., quantitative light fluorescence) to screen and monitor study subjects for caries activity, there is the potential for earlier states of lesion initiation and progression (or regression) to be detected, with, therefore, improved experimental sensitivity to treatment effects. The validity of risk assessment and outcome measurement on the basis of these new diagnostic tools vs. more conventional methods will be examined.

A mixed-bacteria ecological approach to understanding the role of the oral bacteria in dental caries causation: an alternative to Streptococcus mutans and the specific-plaque hypothesis.

For more than 100 years, investigators have tried to identify the bacteria responsible for dental caries formation and to determine whether their role is one of specificity. Frequent association of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Streptococcus mutans with caries activity gave credence to their being specific cariogens. However, dental caries occurrence in their absence, and the presence of other bacteria able to produce substantial amounts of acid from fermentable carbohydrate, provided arguments for non-specificity. In the 1940s, Stephan found that the mixed bacteria in dental plaque produced a rapid drop in pH following a sugar rinse and a slow pH return toward baseline. This response became a cornerstone of plaque and mixed-bacterial involvement in dental caries causation when Stephan showed that the pH decrease was inversely and clearly related to caries activity. Detailed examination of the pH (acid-base) metabolisms of oral pure cultures, dental plaque, and salivary sediment identified the main bacteria and metabolic processes responsible for the pH metabolism of dental plaque. It was discovered that this metabolism in different individuals, in plaque in different dentition locations within individuals, and in individuals of different levels of caries activity could be described in terms of a relatively small number of acid-base metabolic processes. This led to an overall bacterial metabolic vector concept for dental plaque, and helped unravel the bacterial involvement in the degradation of the carbohydrate and nitrogenous substrates that produce the acids and alkali that affect the pH and favor and inhibit dental caries production, respectively. A central role of oral arginolytic and non-arginolytic acidogens in the production of the Stephan pH curve was discovered. The non-arginolytics could produce only the pH fall part of this curve, whereas the arginolytics could produce both the fall and the rise. The net result of the latter was a less acidic Stephan pH curve. Both kinds of bacteria are numerous in dental plaque. By varying their ratios, we were easily able to produce Stephan pH curves indicative of different levels of caries activity. This and substantial related metabolic and microbial data indicated that it is the proportions and numbers of acid-base-producing bacteria that are at the core of dental caries activity. The elimination of S. mutans, as with a vaccine, was considered to have little chance of success in preventing dental caries in humans, since, in most cases, this would simply make more room for one or more of the many acidogens remaining. An understanding of mixed-bacterial metabolism, knowledge of how to manipulate and work with mixed bacteria, and the use of a bacterial metabolic vector approach as described in this article have led to (1) a more ecological focus for dealing with dental caries, and (2) new means of developing and evaluating anti-caries agents directed toward microbial mixtures that counter excess acid accumulation and tooth demineralization.

A gnotobiotic study to distinguish between heredity and the oral microflora as transmitters of dental caries activity in laboratory rats.

Germ-free weanling rats belonging to two separate strains with differing levels of caries activity were produced by time-mating, hysterectomy and fostering onto germ-free lactating females of a third strain. They were mono-infected with a cariogenic oral microorganism, and then fed for 8 weeks on a sterilized 46% sucrose diet under either (a) gnotobiotic or (b) conventional conditions. The clear interstrain difference in dental caries level was maintained under both conditions, showing that caries activity was hereditable and not dependent on the type of oral microflora harboured by the two strains.

The susceptibility to experimental dental caries of rats from a strain with totally or partially missing enamel

Rats from a strain in which many of the offspring have totally or almost completely missing enamel on their incisors and molars were used in two experiments to study the susceptibility of this strain to experimental dental caries. The rats with defective enamel tended to develop a low level of caries activity when fed Harvard semi-purified diet 2700, but a relatively high caries activity when fed Keyes and Jordan's diet 2000 which contains finely powdered sucrose and several natural food items. The rats of this strain with normal enamel had lower dental caries incidences when fed either diet 2700 or diet 2000 than rats of the strain which had defective enamel. Both the normal rats and those with abnormal or missing enamel appeared to have an adequate microbial flora for the development of carious lesions without the external provision of flora from caries-active rats. Some increase in caries activity was observed among the rats fed diet 2700 when they were caged with rats of the mutant albino strain with actively progressing carious lesions.

A strain-specific eating pattern as a factor limiting the transmissibility of caries activity in rats.

In Experiment I the caries activity of the Osborne-Mendel (O-M) and the NIH Black rat (BR) were compared under identical environmental conditions and it was shown that the low activity of the BRs was not due to the lack of implantation of a specific cariogenic oral microflora or to the inadequacy of the caries test diets used. The results of recording food intake of these free-fed rats showed that the O-Ms consumed more food and took more frequent meals than the BRs. In Experiment II the same high-frequency eating pattern (36 meals per day) was imposed on the BRs and O-Ms with the aid of an automatic programmed-feeding machine. The significant increase of caries activity in the BRs on this regime is in keeping with the hypothesis that the inborn habit of short and infrequent eating in the BRs, resulting in infrequent presence of substrate for cariogenic micro-organisms, may be one of the major factors responsible for the low level of caries activity of free-fed BRs. Dans une première expérience (I). l'activité de la carie sur rats Osborne-Mendel (O-M) et NIH-Black(BR) a fait l'objet d'une étude, sous conditions identiques de milieu. II ressort de la comparison des résultats que le peu d'activité de la carie du groupe BR ne peut être attribué ni à l'absence d'une flore microbienne cariogène spécifique, ni au régime alimentaire appliqué. L'enregistrement du mode d'alimentation des animaux, mangeant à leur gré, a fait voir que le groupe O-M mangeait davantage et plus fréquemment que le groupe BR. Dans une seconde expérience (II), un automate alimentait les animaux selon un programme imposé aux deux groupes (36 repas par jour). L'accroissement significatif de l'activité de la carie sur les rats BR renforce l'hypothèse selon laquelle l'habitude naturelle de ces animaux, consistant à manger vite et peu souvent, et qui raréfie la présence du substratum pour les micro-organismes cariogènes, serait l'un des facteurs principalement responsables du faible taux d'activité de la carie sur la race BR. In einem ersten Experiment (I) wurde die Kariesaktivität von Osborne-Mendel (O-M) und NIH-Black-Ratten (BR) unter identischen Umweltsbedingungen verglichen mit dem Ergebnis, dass die niedrige Kariesaktivität von BR weder dem Fehlen einer spezifisch kariogenen Mikroflora zuzuschreiben war, noch auf der Verfütterung einer ungeeigneten Diät beruhte. Die Registrierung der Nahrungsaufnahme dieser ad libitum gefütterten Tiere zeigte, dass die O-M-Ratten mehr und häufiger von der kariogenen Versuchsdiät genommen hatten als die BR. Im Experiment II wurde mit Hilfe eines programmierbaren Fütterungsautomaten den BR und den O-M-Ratten der gleiche, durch hohe Fütterungshäufigkeit gekennzeichnete Fressmodus (36 Mahlzeiten pro Tag) aufgezwungen. Der signifikante Anstieg der Kariesaktivität der NIH-Black-Ratten auf diesem Fütterungsprogramm stützt die Hypothese, dass die dieser Rattenrasse angeborene Eigenart, kurz und selten zu fressen, zu seltener Verfügbarkeit von Substrat für die kariogenen Mikroorganismen führt und mithin eines der wichtigsten all der Charakteristika darstellt, welche die niedrige Kariesaktivität der BR-Rasse bestimmen.

Double mating: its use to study heritable factors in dental caries.

When Osborne-Mendel female rats (white) were mated with both an Osborne-Mendel and an NIH Black rat male during the same breeding period, litters were born which contained both Osborne-Mendel (white) and crossbred (grey to black) offspring. The Osborne-Mendel and crossbred animals developed widely different levels of caries activity even though they were exposed to identical environmental conditions during the intrauterine, preweaning, and experimental periods. These findings are indicative of a strong heritable influence on the development of dental caries.

Genetic and environmental influences on dental caries in the osborne-mendel and the nih black rat

In these studies the Osborne-Mendel (O-M) rat has shown a significantly higher level of caries activity than the NIH Black rat (BR) whether caged with their own kind, or caged with O-M animals during the caries test period. The patterns of caries activity were also different in that activity in the BR was predominantly in the sulci, while activity in the O-M was divided between the sulci and the smooth surfaces. The hybrid animals exposed to an O-M mother or an O-M cage mate during the test period, developed somewhat more activity on the smooth surfaces than those not exposed. However, the level of caries activity of all hybrid animals was nearer that of the BR than the O-M. The causative factors for these differences have not been determined.

Influence of early environment of newborn rats on development of dental caries

Rats born of mothers who were treated with tetracycline the first 19 days of pregnancy, and kept with their mothers during the caries test period, developed significantly less caries activity than the offspring of control mothers. Partial litters were exchanged between control and tetracycline-treated mothers, when the offspring were less than 48 hr old, but caged separately during the caries test period. The levels of caries activity of the various groups of animals from the mixed litters ranged between those of the unmixed litters, reflecting the environmental effect of both the natural and the nursing mother. It was shown, therefore, that the environment of the rat during the first 48 hr of life may affect the later development of caries.

Attempts to alter the genetically expected caries activity in rats by manipulation of the oral flora

Inoculation of the mouths of Harvard caries-resistant rats with faeces from caries-active Harvard caries-susceptible rats, Hunt-Hoppert caries-susceptible rats or sialoadenectomized Harvard caries-resistant rats had relatively little accelerating influence on the dental caries activity of the Harvard resistants. Small increases in dental caries experience were observed in some inoculated groups and none in others. Inoculation of the mouths of Hunt-Hoppert caries-resistant rats with faeces from caries-active Harvard or Hunt-Hoppert caries-susceptible rats led to modest increases in caries activity. These levels of caries activity in 250 days approached those expected for caries-susceptible rats in 80 days. These data indicate that the caries-resistance of the Hunt-Hoppert rats can be overcome more readily by the transmission of appropriate micro-organisms than the caries-resistance of Harvard rats. The caries activity of Harvard caries-susceptible rats can be reduced dramatically by the continuous administration of 0.05% penicillin in the diet. The feeding of this penicillin-supplemented diet for the first 14–28 days only of an experiment led to significant reductions in caries activity over a normal caries assay period. The use of the supplemented diet as infrequently as 1, 2 or 3 days per week also led to significant decreases in dental caries experience. Depression of the oral flora of Harvard caries-susceptible females during the reproductive cycle by either penicillin administration or by the extraction of all molars did not lead to dramatic reductions in dental caries activity among their offspring.