Salivary levels of putative cariogenic organisms in patients with eating disorders.

The present study examined the hypothesis that women with eating disorders associated with a history of chronic vomiting can be characterized by a salivary flora with high levels of aciduric organisms, such as, mutans streptococci, lactobacilli and yeast. Three groups of female subjects were studied: vomiting bulimics (G1; n = 14), and comparison groups selected for high Streptococcus mutans (G2; n = 13), and low S. mutans levels (G3; n = 12). The prevalence and levels of mutans streptococci, lactobacilli and yeast tended to be higher in bulimics than in non-bulimics. The bulimics had significantly higher levels and higher prevalence of Streptococcus sobrinus than the non-bulimics. A high S. sobrinus colonization may be a marker for a history of vomiting in bulimia.