Oral health and caries related microflora in children during the first three months following renal transplantation.
There is little information on the oral health of children undergoing renal transplantation during the early transplant period.


METHODS
Twenty-four children undergoing renal transplantation aged 4-13.2 years and their matched controls were recruited. The dmfs, dmft, DMFS and DMFT, plaque, gingivitis and gingival enlargement scores were recorded. The oral microflora was sampled and cultured for S. mutans, Lactobacllus species and Candida species.


RESULTS
There was a significantly lower mean dmfs (0.3 +/- 0.9; P = 0.03), dmft (0.3 +/- 0.9; P = 0.03), DMFS (2.3 +/- 5.3; P = 0.01) and DMFT (1.5 +/- 2.6; P = 0.02), respectively, in the transplant group. There was a significantly greater mean plaque score (14.7 +/- 11) for the permanent dentition, at baseline only, compared with 90 days post-transplantation (9.4 +/- 10.4; P = 0.02). There was a significantly greater gingival enlargement score (1.8 +/- 1.4; P = 0.04) 90 days post-transplantation compared with baseline. The S. mutans and Lactobacillus counts were significantly lower both at baseline (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.004) and 90 days post-transplantation (P = 0.02; and P = 0.05), respectively, compared with the controls.


CONCLUSIONS
The transplant children had less active dental disease than the controls although gingival enlargement needs careful monitoring.
Department of Paediatric Dentistry, Eastman Dental Institute For Oral Health Care Sciences, University College London, London WC1X 8LD, UK.
A
A
Al Nowaiser
V S
VS
Lucas
M
M
Wilson
G J
GJ
Roberts
R S
RS
Trompeter
D000293:Adolescent; D002175:Candida / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000382:microbiology*; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005886:Gingival Hypertrophy / Q000209:etiology; D005891:Gingivitis; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000302:isolation & purification
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents