Dental Caries Experience and Salivary Total Protein among 5 Years Passive Smokers in Tikrit City, Iraq

Passive smoking is perhaps one of the most important toxic exposures in childhood. The evidence for a causal association between smoking and premature tooth loss is rapidly growing .Dental caries occurs predominantly in younger children, and various factors may influence development of dental caries including passive smoking. This study was designed to assess dental caries experience and salivary total protein among 5 years old passive smokers in Tikrit city. This study included 60 kindergarten children (32 boys, 28 girls) aged 5 years old,Passive smokers group included thirty children was compared with control group consist of thirty children matching in number, age and gender,but they were not passive smokers. Caries-experience was diagnosed and recorded according to criteria of decayed, missing and filling Surface index (dmfs index for primary teeth) described by WHO 2013. Stimulated salivary samples were collected for the estimation of total protein concentration. All data were analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 21.The percentage of dental caries occurrence was found higher in study group than control group. Concerning dental caries experience represented by dmfs, results showed that mean values of dmfs and its component (ds,ms and fs) were higher among passive smoker group. Regarding mean values of dmfs and ds, the difference was statistically highly significant (P>0.01), while it was not significant for ms and fs (P< 0.05).The data of study also revealed that salivary total protein concentration was higher among control group with statistically non-significant difference. In addition there was a negative correlation of dmfs with salivary total protein among control group, while it was positive for study group. It can be concluded that higher caries experience and lower salivary total protein concentration among passive smoker group compared to control group was found in the current study indicating influential harmful effect of passive smoking on oral health including caries experience and salivary composition.