Sensitivity to bitter and sweet taste perception in schoolchildren and their relation to dental caries.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether sensitivity to bitter taste and perception of sweet taste have an influence on dental caries in urban and rural areas.


METHODS
The caries experience in 181 children, aged 12 years, from rural and urban areas of southern Brazil, was assessed according to World Health Organization guidelines. Sensitivity to the bitterness of phenylthiocarbamide was determined using the Harris–Kalmus procedure, and the sweet taste thresholds of sucrose were measured by Nilsson and Holm's method.


RESULTS
The caries index (DMFT > 0) was 3.73 (SD = 2.26) in the rural area and 3.51 (SD = 2.14) in the urban area. The sensitivity to bitter taste and sweet taste perception showed significant association with the gender of schoolchildren (P = 0.04). Girls were predominant in the high sweet perception taster group (62.3%) and the bitter taster group (59.4%). No significant difference in sweet perception status could be observed between the groups of low and high caries severity. The genetic ability to taste bitterness significantly influenced the levels of caries only in children from the urban area (P = 0.005). Bitter non-tasters presented higher severity of caries. A positive correlation was observed between sensitivity to bitter taste and sweet taste perception among children in the rural (r = 0.42, P = 0.002) and urban areas (r = 0.36, P = 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that the bitter non-tasters are more susceptible to dental caries than the tasters in the urban area.
Furquim
Teresa Rodrigues D'Áurea
TR
Department of Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Northern Paraná, Londrina, Brazil.
Poli-Frederico
Regina Célia
RC
Maciel
Sandra Mara
SM
Gonini-Júnior
Alcides
A
Walter
Luiz Reynaldo Figueiredo
LR
D001938:Brazil; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000235:genetics*; D003733:Dental Caries Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010670:Phenylthiourea; D012424:Rural Population; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013395:Sucrose; D013649:Taste / Q000235:genetics*; D055697:Taste Perception / Q000235:genetics*; D013652:Taste Threshold; D014505:Urban Population
D013395:Sucrose; D010670:Phenylthiourea