The Estimation of Dental Caries Activity by a New Colorimetric Laboratory Test

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Abstract
Clinical and bite-wing roentgenographic dental examinations were made of 135 students (mean age 22); the findings were recorded according to the modified Boedecker dental caries index. Early morning saliva samples were collected for the following detns.: (1) pH of each of the saliva samples, when mixed and incubated with a sucroindicator solution and compared with standard color tubes; (2) total titratable acid of each of the above mixtures; (3) the L. a. index. One year later the dental examinations were repeated under identical conditions, plotted against the initial laboratory tests and subjected to statistical analysis. (1) The lower the pH of the saliva-sucrose mixture, the more dental caries occurred during the ensuing year, (2) The more total titratable acid produced, the greater the dental caries increment, (3) The higher the L.a. index, the greater the increase in dental caries, (4) Individual dental caries increment could be predicted (within definite limits) for the following year if no dietary changes were made, (5) The new colorimetric pH test and the detn. of total titratable acid were equally accurate in their prognostic abilities.