Caries experience and oral cleanliness in cystic fibrosis homozygotes and heterozygotes.
OBJECTIVE
In the present study, the caries experience (ie, the number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth) and oral cleanliness (ie, measures of plaque, calculus, and gingival bleeding) of patients homozygous for cystic fibrosis (CF; n = 42), patients heterozygous for CF (n = 48), and healthy control subjects (n = 62) were recorded and statistically analyzed.


RESULTS
Those who were homozygous for CF had a significantly lower caries experience than both the control subjects (P <.001) and those who were heterozygous for CF (P =.011). They also had significantly less gingival bleeding sites than the controls (P =.014) and those heterozygous for CF (P =.019). Patients heterozygous for CF showed significantly more extensive restorations than those who were homozygous (P =.015) and significantly more missing teeth than the controls (P =.008), whereas the controls had significantly more missing teeth than those who were homozygous for CF (P <.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Although those homozygous for CF are expected to have a high caries risk because of their essential sugar-rich diet, they did not have a significantly higher caries experience in this study. Their better gingival health and lower caries experience may be attributed to medication use (antibiotics) and as-yet unidentified intrinsic salivary mechanisms.
Aps
Johan K M
JK
Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. johan.aps@rug.ac.be
Van Maele
Georges O G
GO
Martens
Luc C
LC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001530:Belgium; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000235:genetics*; D004245:DMF Index; D003728:Dental Calculus / Q000145:classification; D003733:Dental Caries Susceptibility; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent; D005260:Female; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000145:classification; D006579:Heterozygote; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009911:Oral Hygiene Index; D010512:Periodontal Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000145:classification