The role of salivary sIgA as protection for dental caries activity in Indonesian children

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to asses the relationship between the level of sIgA and dental caries experience in healthy children who are 6- to 9-years-old from Indonesia. The case-control study is conducted to determine the protective role of salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) levels in the stimulated whole saliva of dental caries-active and caries-free children. METHODS: This research was done by stimulating the whole saliva which had been collected from 6- to 9-years-old children with the index def-t≥3 of 30 children as the caries-active children group and 30 children with def-t<3 as the low caries-active children group. Saliva samples were collected in sterile vials between 10 am-12 pm due to the circadian rhythm, which is at least one hour after last meal. 1,5 ml of collected salivary sample was centrifuged, then the supernatants was transferred to other tube and stored immediately to the laboratory at a temperature of –20 °C. The estimation of sIgA concentration was done by using ELISA. The differences in the level of sIgA between the two groups with caries were analyzed using the t-test afterward. RESULTS: The total salivary concentration of sIgA was statistically significantly higher in the low caries-active children group than in the caries-active children group. CONCLUSION: The total salivary concentration of sIgA was statistically and significantly higher in the low caries-active children group than caries-active children Group. There is a negative correlation between sIgA level and dental caries activity of 6 to 9-years-old children.