Distribution of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus in Dental Plaque of Indian Pre-School Children Using...

Dental caries is one of the most common infectious diseases affecting the oral cavity. Among the oral bacteria, mutans streptococci have been implicated as major cariogenic bacteria as they can produce high levels of dental caries causing substances such as lactic acid and extracellular polysaccharides.

The aim of the study was to detect the presence of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus in dental plaque by using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method, quantification of these micro-organisms using Modified Sucrose-Bacitracin (SB-20M) agar medium and to correlate their presence in Caries Active (CA) and Caries Free (CF) pre-school children.

Sixty-eight pre-school children, in the age group of 3-5 years were divided equally into 34 CA and 34 CF children. Dental plaque samples were obtained for detection of these microorganisms by PCR method and quantification was done using SB-20M culture medium. The data was analyzed using statistical software SPSS version 16. For statistical analysis, the frequencies and means of Colony Forming Units (CFU) were used with CI = 95%. For bivariate analysis, Fisher exact test was used at 5% level of significance. The comparison of mean of number of CFU of S. mutans and S. sobrinus was made by Mann Whitney U test and Spearman's Rho test at 1% level of significance was used for correlation between dmft and CFU in CA group.

The results showed that S. sobrinus was significantly higher in CA group as compared to CF group whereas S. mutans showed no significant difference. On quantification of these micro-organisms, S. sobrinus was present in significantly higher numbers in CA group as compared to CF group. On correlating the CFU/ml of the micro-organisms with the dmft index, both the micro-organisms showed a positive correlation.

We conclude that S. mutans and S. sobrinus were detected in higher numbers in CA children as compared to CF children. PCR is a sensitive, specific, rapid and an effective method for the detection of oral microorganisms.