Salivary Characteristics in Children Aged 2 Years Old And Under with Severe Early Childhood Caries (SECC)

摘要

Severe Early Childhood Caries (SECC) is progressive tooth decay with multifactorial etiology, which one of them is saliva. Salivary flow, pH, salivary buffer capacity are critical factors for developmental regulation and regression of the caries process. It is mandatory to comprehend the salivary characteristics possessed by children with SECC to perform prevention programs, given that the high prevalence of SECC in many countries. The objectives of this study were to investigate the salivary characteristics (flow rate, pH and salivary buffer) in children aged 2 years old and under that suffered from SECC and children with caries-free. This research was an observational analytic research with cross sectional design. Sample size was 30 children with SECC and 30 children with caries-free as control group. Sampling was done using purposive sampling method, with age criteria 2 years old and under and good general conditions. Examination of unstimulated salivary characteristics such as salivary flow rate, pH and buffer capacity was done using GC saliva check, with unpaired t-test used for analysis. Results showed that mean salivary flow rate in children with SECC was lower than in caries-free children, mean salivary pH in SECC children was also lower in SECC children compared with caries-free children, and the buffer capacity was also lower in SECC children rather than in control group. As conclusion, salivary characteristics of SECC children had lower quantity and quality rather than caries-free children.