Prader Willi Syndrome: saliva quantification and culture in 10 patients

Prader Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a relatively rare neurogenetic illness. It is of interest to dentists for its clinical characteristics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the amount of saliva and the presence of Streptococcus mutans (St mutans) in patients with this syndrome. We measured saliva stimulated by chewing paraffin tablets for 5 minutes, and cultured saliva samples in order to determine the colony-forming units (CFUs) of St mutans. The study was conducted in a group of 10 children with PWS at the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona. Results showed that patients with PWS had lower saliva secretion than considered normal for a standard population and most cultures presented a high number of colony-forming units. We conclude that these patients are likely to present caries, and stress the need to place special emphasis on prevention.