ANALYSIS OF SALIVARY LEVEL OF ALPHA-AMYLASE AS A RISK FACTOR FOR DENTAL CARIES
Abstract:
The biologic properties of salivary alpha-amylase are a subject of intense debate, regarding
its use as a biomarker for local and systemic diseases, including caries lesions. The purpose of our
study was to measure the correlation between the salivary level of alpha-amylase and the incidence of
caries. A total of 142 children were included in four study groups, based on specific
inclusion/exclusion criteria. From each patient, 10 ml of saliva was collected and examined with a
spectrophotometer in order to determine the level of salivary alpha-amylase. The data were
statistically analyzed with the Graph Pad Prism 7.03 and Mann-Whitney test, a value of p <0.05
being considered statistically significant. Our results showed that caries active children had higher
levels of salivary enzyme (p<0.001). Therefore, we concluded that salivary alpha-amylase can be
considered a biomarker for the prognosis of dental caries development, offering new perspectives for
preventive dentistry.
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