Comparative Evaluation of Salivary Malondialdehyde Levels in Children with Different Caries Status- A Cross-Sectional Observational Study

Background and Objectives: Early childhood caries is a major public health problem especially in young children. ECC affects the quality of life of young children by affecting the chewing ability of children due to the development of pain and swelling, and this may indirectly affect the nutritional status of a child. The present study was done to assess the level of salivary malondialdehyde in children with and without Early childhood caries. The main objective of the study is to determine the salivary malondialdehyde levels and to compare it with the three groups of children with different caries experiences.

Materials and Methods: It is cross-sectional observational research carried out at Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals. Children between 3-6 years were examined and 20 caries-free, 20 children with ECC as well as 20 children with S-ECC were recruited for the study. The caries status was assessed using dmfs and the severity of caries was assessed using pufa index. Salivary samples were collected and analysed for salivary malondialdehyde levels.

Statistical Analysis: The data was entered and analysed using SPSS software version 20.0. One-way ANOVA was done to determine the difference in malondialdehyde levels between the groups. “Post-hoc Tukey” test was done to measure the intergroup significance. A “P value of < 0.05” was measured as statistically “significant” and P < 0.001 was deemed as statistically “highly significant”. Pearson’s correlation was done to correlate pufa values with malondialdehyde levels.

Results: The results demonstrated that there was a statistically significant difference in salivary malondialdehyde levels among caries-free, ECC as well as S-ECC children. There was a positive correlation between the pufa score and salivary malondialdehyde levels.

Conclusion: 1. There is a significant difference in the salivary malondialdehyde levels among caries-free, ECC as well as S-ECC children.

There was a positive correlation of salivary malondialdehyde levels and pufa score in ECC and S-ECC children.