EFFECTS OF ORAL HYGIENE UPON THE QUALITY OF BREATHING IN CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM BRONCHIAL ASTHMA Mona

In Romania, bronchial asthma represents a major public health problem. SCOPE: The study discusses the effects of bacterial plaque control upon the quality of respiration in a group of ashtmatic children previously subjected to professional dental scaling and brushing, comparatively with a similar group, whose habits of oral hygiene had not been influenced. In both groups, the indices of bacterial plaque and gingival bleeding were calculated, respiratory functional samples were taken, the number of eosinophylls, the concentration of seric IgE and salivary sIgA were analyzed, and bacterial concentration and morphology of the dental plaque were determined. Statistically, the quality of respiration has been significantly improved in the children whose dental plaque had been controlled. Correlations have been evidenced among asthma symptomatology, indices of oral health, immunological markers and the bacterial profile of the dental plaque.