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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Oral Biofilm Sampling for Microbiome Analysis in Healthy Children
Published on: December 31, 2017
Oral health of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Nabila Ahmed1, Agnès Bloch-Zupan, Kevin J Murray
1Department of Rheumatology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, United Kingdom.
Objective:
s. To estimate dental disease indices and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).
Methods:
Indices were recorded for dental caries, bacterial dental plaque, gingival inflammation, and TMJ dysfunction in children with JIA and matched controls.
Results:
There was no significant difference in dental caries experience or the mean plaque score between children with JIA and controls. The mean gingivitis score for the permanent teeth only was significantly greater in the JIA children compared with the controls (p = 0.02). There was a significantly greater proportion of children with JIA with signs of both left and right TMJ dysfunction (p = 0.05, p = 0.02) and symptoms (p = 0.0001, p = 0.0001) compared with controls.
Conclusion:
The low caries rate was attributed to the fact that children with JIA had received preventive dental care from an early age combined with sugar free medication.
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