Caries Risk Assessment and Detection of Streptococcus Mutans Count in Plaque and Saliva Using Mutans-Sanguis Agar

Abstract

Assessment of the caries risk of individual patients is a critical component in determining an appropriate management strategy. A total of 160 samples were taken from the outpatients of dental clinics in Surendera Dental College, Sriganganagar, Rajasthan. The age group of the participants ranged from 16-60 years. We have used the ADA caries risk assessment form among our study samples to ascertain their caries risk and compared it with their Streptococcus mutans levels in saliva and plaque using mutans-sanguis agar. The colonies were counted after 18 hours of incubation at 37oC. The S.mutans colonies were greyish-yellow in colour and those of S.sanguis were colourless. The colonies were counted with a digital colony counter. The tabulated data were subjected to statistical analysis using ANOVA and t-test with SPSS. The findings of the present study indicated the Streptococcus mutans counts among high risk and moderate risk group were statistically insignificant when compared to low risk and control group even though the mean value showed an increase. We observed that the CFU yield was higher in unstimulated saliva than the plaque samples in contrast to reported literature. Moreover, Dental caries risk assessment should become a routine component in dental practice. Estimation of the caries risk will help to establish the periodicity and intensity of caries management protocol. Our data suggest that the MS count in oral microflora are influenced by age and various other factors such as diet, time and host response. As dental caries is multifactorial disease further clinical studies are needed to identify the actual pathogenesis.