Salivary Buffering Capacity, Flow Rate and Calcium Levels in Children with and without Early Childhood Caries – a Comparative Study

Background: Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is a phenomenon that affects primary teeth in children below 6 years of age. Its severity could have a far-reaching impact on children with resultant effects on their quality of life. An assessment of a child's caries risk using saliva is a valuable non-invasive diagnostic tool utilised in preventing or reducing the impact of this condition. Objective: To assess the buffering capacity, flow rate and calcium levels of saliva in children and their association with ECC. Methodology: The study consisted of fifty (50) subjects aged 45 to 71 months recruited from Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and staff primary school, Idi-Araba. Unstimulated saliva collected between 9 – 11 am was used to evaluate saliva's buffering capacity, flow rate and calcium levels in children with and without ECC. Results: The subjects were aged below 71 months (with a mean age of 56.66 ± 7.17 months). A major proportion (67.0%) of the component of the dmft was cavitated lesion related. The caries-free subjects had slightly higher mean rank values in salivary flow rate (MR = 27.52, U = 262, p = 0.325), slightly lower mean rank values in calcium level (MR = 24.64, U = 291, p = 0.677) and lower buffering capacity values than caries active subjects. Conclusion: The properties of saliva such as buffering capacity, flow rate and calcium level were not significantly different between the study groups.  Therefore, there is no association between buffering capacity, flow rate, calcium level, and ECC. This implies that more investigations are required to evaluate the protective effects of other salivary physiochemical factors like antioxidants, other than those investigated in this study.