Investigation of pediatric specifications for the Salivary Multi Test® saliva test system

• Published in: Pediatric dental journal Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 148 - 153
• Main Authors: Irie, Yasumasa, Tatsukawa, Nobuyuki, Iwamoto, Yuko, Nakano, Masashi, Ogasawara, Tomoko, Sakurai, Kaoru, Mitsuhata, Chieko, Kozai, Katsuyuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2018
• Subjects: Dentistry; DMF; PMA; Saliva test; Salivary Multi Test; DMF; PMA; Saliva test; Salivary Multi Test
• ISSN: 0917-2394; 1880-3997
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pdj.2018.09.001

Abstract Background Dental caries and gingivitis are the main diseases in pediatric dentistry, and the saliva test is useful for their diagnosis. For children, it is important that the saliva test be simple and easily performed because their degree of cooperation varies. In this sense, the Salivary Multi Test® (SMT® ) is superior to other tests. However, the reference value for the SMT® was only reported for adults. Therefore, the aim of our research was to evaluate the usefulness of the SMT® in children. Methods We investigated 125 pediatric patients, aged 3 to 18 years, who came to the Pediatric Dental Clinic at Hiroshima University Hospital. We obtained rinse water (oral rinsing for 10 seconds with 3 ml of distilled water) from boys and girls. Then, we examined cariogenic bacteria level, acidity, occult blood, buffer capacity, leukocyte level, protein level, and ammonia level (SMT® factors) using the rinse water with the SMT® . Additionally, in order to investigate the relevance between these SMT® factors and DMF or PMA, we evaluated the decayed-missing-filled (DMF) tooth for the morbidity state of caries and the papilla-marginal-attached (PMA) index for the morbidity state of the gingiva. Results We were able to perform the tests even for children who were not cooperative due to their age. Many SMT® factors changed significantly with age. The leukocyte and protein levels changed according to PMA. Our results suggest that the SMT® reference value for children should be referred to, not that for adults, and that SMT® factors represent the severity of gingivitis in children.