Saliva Test for Caries Risk

描述：最终，这个项目的目标是产生一种简单的，非侵入性的唾液测试，能够评估龋齿风险。在牙科社区中，有一种趋势是将预防纳入治疗计划。该测试通过为牙科专业人员，最终是患者，提供确定龋齿发展风险的工具，促进了这一举措。那些被确定为高风险或中等风险的患者，可以针对个性化的预防计划。过去的龋病经验，DFS（蛀牙和补牙表面的数量）是预测未来龋病发展风险水平的最佳指标；然而，这是一个不可靠的衡量标准。有必要进行一项检测，以提供标准的识别标准，并准确诊断儿童期和青年期的龋齿风险。初步研究显示唾液MUC7粘蛋白与DFS有很强的相关性。完成的第一阶段研究包括100多名儿童和年轻人，将相关性扩展到7-9岁儿童的个体龋齿经历。发现了一组新的预测因子，比单独的粘蛋白更普遍。凝集素测定揭示了碳水化合物部分，其中一些是血型抗原样的，这导致了整个未分离唾液中与DFS的相关性，甚至比单独使用粘蛋白更精确。与黏液蛋白定量相比，评估最新的龋齿风险预测因子水平的方法更容易，也不那么麻烦，从而为开发非常简单、可靠的测试提供了机会，这些测试将易于商业化。第二阶段研究的目标是制作这些测试的工作模型，为每项应用使用相关技术。同样在第二阶段，数据库将通过从更多的年轻人和儿童中收集样本来扩大，以扩大到不同的年龄、种族或民族，目标是进一步“普及”该测试。除了牙科专业人员可以使用的椅子边测试之外，试纸测试可以针对资源有限的最需要的人，对口腔健康产生全球性的影响。

DESCRIPTION: Ultimately, the goal of this project is to produce a simple, non-invasive saliva test, which is able to assess caries risk. Within the Dental community, there is a trend to include prevention in the treatment plan. The test facilitates this move by offering the Dental professional, and ultimately the patient, the tool to determine the risk for caries development. Those patients who are identified as high or medium risk, can then be targeted for a personalized prevention program. Past caries experience, DFS (number of decayed and filled tooth surfaces) has been the best predictor for risk level of future caries development; however, it is an unreliable measure. There is need for a test that provides standard identification criteria and leads to an accurate diagnosis of caries risk through childhood and young adulthood. Preliminary studies showed a strong correlation between MUC7 mucin in saliva and DFS. The completed Phase I study included more than 100 children and young adults, extending correlations to individual caries experience in children 7-9 years old. A new set of predictors was identified that are more universal than mucins alone. Lectin assays revealed carbohydrate moieties, some of which are blood group antigen-like, that resulted in correlations with DFS in whole, unfractionated saliva that are even more precise than with mucin alone. The methods for assessing the levels of the newest predictors for caries risk are easier and less cumbersome than for mucin quantitation, thus opening opportunities to develop very simple, reliable tests that will be easy to commercialize. The goal of the Phase II Study is to produce working models of these tests, which use the relevant technology for each application. Also during Phase II, the data base will be increased by collecting samples from additional young adults and children expanding to different ages, and races or ethnicities, with the goal of further "universalizing" the test. In addition to a chair-side test that can be used by the Dental professional, the strip test could have world-wide impact on oral health by targeting those in most need where resources are limited.