Evaluation of Total Antioxidant Capacity of Saliva in High School Students

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Imbalance between oxidative stress and saliva antioxidants plays a major role in initiation and spread of dental caries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of saliva in dental caries.

METHODS: In this case-control study which employed high school students (14-18 years), the un-stimulated saliva samples of 60 students without dental caries (control group) and 60 students with dental caries (with at least 5 teeth levels of dental caries) were gathered. Each group comprised of males (half of cases) and females (half of cases). TAC of saliva was measured by Zellbio® (Netherlands) in terms of micmol/L. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software (ver. 17.0) and t-test with considering significance level at 0.05.

RESULTS: TAC of saliva was significantly lower in cases with dental caries (0.256±0.106) compared to those without dental caries (0.396±0.077); P< 0.001. There was no statistically significant difference of TAC of saliva between males (0.319±0.119) and females (0.333±0.113) irrespective of dental caries (P=0.507).

CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicated that there was a reverse association between dental caries and TAC of saliva.