Saliva Test for Caries Risk

描述：最终，该项目的目标是生产一种简单的、非侵入性的唾液测试，能够评估龋齿风险。在牙科社区内，将预防纳入治疗计划是一种趋势。该测试通过为牙科专业人员以及最终为患者提供工具来确定龋病发生的风险，从而促进了这一举措。然后，那些被确定为高风险或中等风险的患者可以成为个性化预防计划的目标。过去的龋病经验表明，DFS(龋齿和充填牙面的数量)是预测未来龋病发展风险水平的最好指标；然而，它并不可靠。需要一种测试，提供标准的识别标准，并导致对儿童和青年时期的龋齿风险进行准确诊断。初步研究表明，唾液中的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，将相关关系扩展到7-9岁儿童的个人龋齿经历。一组新的预测因子被识别出来，它们比单独使用粘蛋白更普遍。凝集素分析揭示了碳水化合物的部分，其中一些类似血型抗原，这导致了整个完整的、完整的唾液与DFS的相关性，这甚至比单独使用粘蛋白更精确。与粘蛋白定量相比，评估最新的龋病风险预测指标水平的方法更容易、更不麻烦，从而为开发易于商业化的非常简单、可靠的测试提供了机会。第二阶段研究的目标是制作这些测试的工作模型，这些模型使用每种应用的相关技术。同样在第二阶段，将通过收集更多不同年龄、不同种族或族裔的年轻人和儿童的样本来扩大数据库，目的是进一步“普及”这项测试。除了牙科专业人员可以使用的椅子边测试外，剥离测试可能会对全球口腔健康产生影响，因为它针对的是那些最有需要的人，而那里的资源有限。

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.