title: Correlating Streptococcus mutans counts in saliva with plaque amount, gingival inflammation and caries experience in school children.
abstract: Samples of stimulated whole saliva were obtained from ninety-four 12-14-year-old school children living in inner London to evaluate if there was a correlation between Streptococcus mutans counts in saliva with plaque amount, gingival inflammation and caries experience. S. mutans counts were obtained by a dip-slide method (Dentocult 'Strip Mutans') in which the count was expressed as 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 based on visual estimation of the colony density. There was no association between counts' of S. mutans in saliva with plaque amount and gingival inflammation. However, there was a significant trend of increased decayed, missing, filled surfaces (DMFS) with increasing S. mutans counts.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Jalil
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000382:microbiology*; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology*; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology*; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014505:Urban Population