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Systematic assessment of salivary inflammatory markers and dental caries in children: an exploratory study
Torunn Børsting1,2, Vishwesh Venkatraman3, Tone Natland Fagerhaug1,2
1Center for Oral Health Services and Research, Mid-Norway (TkMidt), Trondheim, Norway.
Insights
Saliva analysis revealed macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1) is linked to childhood dental caries. This finding may aid in early diagnosis and risk management for this common oral disease.
Area of Science:
- Oral Health Research
- Biomarker Discovery
- Pediatric Dentistry
Background:
- Dental caries is a prevalent childhood disease with complex etiological factors.
- Salivary inflammatory markers are increasingly recognized as potential indicators of oral health status.
- Understanding the relationship between inflammation and caries can inform prevention and treatment strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore associations between a broad range of salivary inflammatory markers and the presence of dental caries in children.
- To identify specific inflammatory biomarkers in saliva that correlate with caries development.
- To investigate the potential of salivary markers for early caries detection and risk assessment.
Main Methods:
- An exploratory, cross-sectional study involving 176 children aged 7-9 years.
- Dental examinations and collection of saliva samples for multiplex immunoassay analysis of 92 inflammatory markers.
- Application of logistic regression with Bonferroni correction and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression, adjusted for confounders.
Main Results:
- Approximately 22.2% of the children studied presented with dental caries.
- Out of 56 analyzed salivary inflammatory markers, only macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1) showed a statistically significant positive association with caries presence after LASSO analysis.
- CSF1 emerged as a potential salivary biomarker linked to childhood caries.
Conclusions:
- The positive association between CSF1 and dental caries suggests its potential clinical utility in caries risk management and early diagnosis.
- Further research with larger cohorts is necessary to validate these findings and confirm the role of CSF1 in caries etiology.
- This study highlights the importance of exploring salivary inflammatory profiles for understanding and managing pediatric dental caries.
Objective:
To investigate associations between a wide panel of salivary inflammatory markers and the presence of dental caries among children.
Material And Methods:
In this exploratory, cross-sectional study, 176 children, aged 7-9, underwent a dental examination. Information on the children's oral health habits and lifestyles was collected from their mothers. In addition, saliva samples were collected and analyzed using a multiplex immunoassay. Of 92 inflammatory markers measured, 56 were included in the statistical analyses. To identify potential inflammatory markers associated with caries, we applied low to advanced statistical analyses. First, we performed traditional logistic regression analysis followed by Bonferroni corrections. Thereafter, a more robust and less conservative statistical approach, i.e. Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO), was applied. The models were adjusted for potential confounders.
Results:
Of the 176 children in the study, 22.2% were affected by caries. Among the 56 salivary inflammatory markers, only macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1) was selected by the LASSO and found to be positively associated with the presence of caries.
Conclusions:
The observed association between CSF1 and the presence of caries may be of clinical value in caries risk management and early diagnosis. Larger studies are warranted to assess the replicability of our findings.
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