Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry , Hamedan University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Statement of Problem: High consumption of sugar-containing beverages is common among children as well as adults. Its adverse affects on dental structure have been widely recognised, such beverages contribute to development of caries through decrement in dental plaque pH.Purpose: The porpuse of this study was to evaluate the changes of dental plaque pH following consumption of sugar–containing beverages according to DMFT value .Materials and Methods: In this in vivo filed trial experimental study, 60 volunteers (12 years old) were divided into 2 groups, one group including 30 subjects with DMFT>5, and another group including 30 subjects with DMDT=0. Dental plaque pH measurements were  carried out previous to and following consumption of sugar-containing beverages.Results: For DMFT>5 group, dental plaque pH measurements previous and subsequent to beverage consumption were 6.21 0.06 and 5.560.06 respectively, while for DMFT=0 group, these measurements were 6.66 0.06 and 6.34 0.07. Therefore, dental plaque pH value of DMFT>5 group in each condition was lower than that of DMFT=0 group in the comparable condition. In DMFT>5 group, dental plaque pH value subsequent to beverage consumption reduced by 0.65 0.07 and in DMFT=0 group, this reduction was 0.23 0.06. It could be concluded that the subjects with DMFT>5 were more suseptible to dental caries than the subjects with DMFT=0.Conclusion: The difference is explainable by more extensive reduction of dental plaque pH and closely approaching to critical pH (5.5), detected in DMFT>5 group. Therefore, it is recommended that parents should carefully control oral hygiene and limit the sugar–rich diets of their childrens with higher DMFT value. In addition, dental community including dentists could help to prevent caries by means of conferring knowledge about unfavorable results of high consumption of low–pH sugar containing beverages and diest too. Key words: Bacterial plaque PH, Sugary beverage, DMFT