Systemic Inflammatory and Hematologic Biomarkers in Pediatric Dental Caries: Clear Group Differences with Limited...

Background: Dental caries in children has been explored not only as a local oral condition but also in relation to potential systemic inflammatory changes. This study evaluated systemic inflammatory biomarkers and hematologic indices in children with dental caries and examined their association with caries severity, as assessed by the DMFT index. Methods: In this exploratory cross-sectional sibling-controlled study, 114 participants were included: 75 children with dental caries and 39 unaffected siblings serving as controls. All participants underwent blood testing, including inflammatory biomarkers (TNF-α, NGAL) and hematologic indices (NLR, LMR, PLR, IIC, MCVL, SII, SIRI, AISI). Group comparisons were performed using parametric or nonparametric tests, depending on data distribution. Correlation analyses were conducted within the caries group. Age- and sex-adjusted univariate and multivariable linear regression models were used to identify predictors of DMFT, and logistic regression was applied to evaluate associations with high caries burden (DMFT ≥ 6). Results: Children with caries showed higher NGAL, PLR, and MCVL, and lower LMR than controls, while IIC showed a non-significant upward trend. Correlation analysis revealed strong associations among several inflammatory indices, largely reflecting shared computational components. DMFT showed a modest positive correlation with LMR, whereas associations with classical inflammatory biomarkers such as TNF-α and NGAL were weak or absent. In age- and sex-adjusted models, several markers showed borderline associations with DMFT, but none remained independently significant in multivariable analyses. Age was the strongest predictor of DMFT, while sex showed no significant effect. Logistic regression for high DMFT confirmed age as the only significant determinant. Conclusions: In this exploratory pediatric cohort, children with dental caries showed differences in selected systemic inflammatory and hematologic biomarkers compared with unaffected siblings. However, most biomarkers showed only limited independent associations with caries severity after adjustment, with age emerging as the primary determinant of DMFT. These findings suggest that systemic inflammatory markers have limited independent explanatory value for caries severity and should be interpreted as exploratory rather than clinically definitive.