The result of determining the rate of salivary flow rate of school-age children in Bayanzurkh district of Ulaanbaatar city

Abstract

Background: Dental caries is a multifactorial chronic infectious disease caused by the interaction of four main factors: tooth surface, food residues, oral microorganism and time, declared by the World Health Organization. Factors affecting dental caries are classified as extrinsic and intrinsic, and one of the intrinsic factors and an important biomarker for research is saliva. The ability of saliva to affect the pathogenesis of tooth decay depends directly on the amount and salivary flow rate, according to the results of the research conducted by Pandey et al. in India in 2015. Aim: Determine the relationship between dental caries and salivary flow rate. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 190 children aged 12 years old, studying in the 84th secondary school. We obtained informed consent No.2022/3-03-36 of the Ethical Committee. The oral examination of every child was done on the recommendation of the WHO, 2013. Saliva samples were collected between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. All children abstained from eating and drinking for 2 hours. Salivary flow rate was analyzed by in the Medical Pathology Laboratory of MNUMS. Results: The prevalence and DMF/t score of dental caries were 88.6% and 2.79 among all children, respectively. The unstimulated salivary flow rate was 0.34±0.2 ml/min among all children, 0.41±0.22 ml/min in the control-I group, 0.36±0.19 ml/min in the control-II group, and 0.26±0.17 ml/min in the case group (p<0.05). There was a weak, significant negative relationship between dental caries and unstimulated salivary flow rate (r=-0.2, p<0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of dental caries among the 12-year-old children was 88.6%. The unstimulated saliva flow rate of all children 0.34±0.2 ml/min. There was a negative correlation between dental caries and the salivary unstimulated flow rate.