title: Estimation of salivary nitric oxide levels in children with congenital heart diseases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral health problems, especially dental caries are known to be common in children with severe heart disease, especially at early ages. The role of nitric oxide (NO) in protection against oral diseases owing to its strong antimicrobial action has been a topic of interest.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The current study was carried out to estimate the NO levels in the salivary samples of children diagnosed with congenital heart diseases (CHDs) and to determine whether salivary NO can serve as a potential biomarker for the evaluation of dental caries-risk.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective study was performed on 50 children suffering from CHDs who reported to the department of pediatrics and the levels were compared with those of 50 healthy caries-free children. NO levels in the collected salivary levels were determined spectrophotometrically using the Griess reaction method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects between the age group of 6 and 12 years had maximum decayed teeth (20.95%). The mean NO level in children in study group (60.63) was decreased in comparison to the control group (132.40), which was statistically significant (P value of 0.001). The mean age of the subjects in the study group was 7.24 and the salivary NO levels decreased with age, which was statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children are suffering from medically compromising conditions such as CHDs are at a higher risk for dental caries and decreased salivary NO levels in these patients may prove as a critical indicator of the same. Saliva can be further utilized as an important biomarker for the determination of the relationship between salivary NO levels and development of dental caries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Sakshi Anurag
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Nilima Ramdas
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Thosar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Sudhindra M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Baliga
authors.affiliation: Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Poonam Vidyaanand
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Bhatiya
keywords: Congenital heart diseases; dental caries; salivary nitric oxide