Evaluation of salivary glucose levels among children with early childhood caries compared to children with healthy teeth

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The present study was carried out with the aim to evaluate the salivary glucose levels among children with early childhood caries (ECC) compared to a group of healthy children without any caries and help control ECC.METHODS: 55 children with an age range of 5-6 years were selected from some kindergartens. Then the subjects were divided into two groups of with ECC & without ECC as test and control groups, respectively, then they referred to the Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. The salivary samples were collected from the subjects at 8 to 9 in the morning and sent to the laboratory to determine the salivary glucose levels. Data were analyzed using t-test with a significance level of P < 0.05.RESULTS: The mean salivary glucose level among girls and boys with ECC were 0.11 ± 0.06 and 0.15 ± 0.12 mmol/l, respectively, with 0.11 ± 0.07 for girls and 0.13 ± 0.05 mmol/l for boys in the control group. There was no significant difference between ECC and control groups in terms of the salivary glucose levels (P = 0.61).CONCLUSION: The present study showed no significant difference in the salivary glucose levels among children with ECC and the control subjects.