Antioxidative barrier indicators of pre-school children in case of active dental caries

Abstract Background: Antioxidant system is a powerful defense system of the body works against damages caused by free radicals. The present study investigated the effect of active dental caries on oxidative stress by evaluating the antioxidative stress indicators in saliva and serum samples of children. Methods: Thirty eight children aged between 35-72 months were participated in this study. Unstimulated whole saliva and serum samples were collected from the children before and after the performance of their dental treatments. Salivary; pH, flow rate and total protein concentrations were measured. Total antioxidant status (TAS) and Total oxidant status (TOS) levels of serum and saliva samples were determined. In addition, saliva and serum levels of Nitric oxide (NO), Catalase (CAT) and Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were measured quantitatively. Results: According to the quantitative measurements, TAS showed an increase in the post-treatment saliva/serum samples, whereas TOS had a decrease. In addition, NO and CAT levels of pre-treatment saliva/serum samples were higher than the levels found in post-treatment samples. It was also found that the concentrations of GPx increased statistically after treatment. The positive correlations of these parameters were found between whole saliva and serum samples, except the GPx levels. Conclusions: Saliva is has a great potential in biomedical research, as well as serum and it constitutes a defence, against free radical-modified oxidative stress due to active dental caries. The oxidative/antioxidative balance appeared to shift toward the antioxidant status after the children became caries-free.