C. Vanloveren et al., INCIDENCE OF MUTANS STREPTOCOCCI AND LACTOBACILLI IN ORAL CLEFT CHILDREN WEARING ACRYLIC PLATES FROM SHORTLY AFTER BIRTH, Oral microbiology and immunology, 13(5), 1998, pp. 286-291
Citations number
22
Categorie Soggetti
Immunology,Microbiology,"Dentistry,Oral Surgery & Medicine
Children with a palatal cleft can be treated with preoperative infant
orthopedics including an acrylic plate that is applied shortly after b
irth to obturate the cleft. It is advised to wear these plates until t
he 18th month of age. Such a plate, being a hard non-shedding surface,
may be expected to facilitate early colonization of mutans streptococ
ci. The first aim of the present investigation was to assess the incid
ence of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli in children with cleft li
p and/ or palate during the first 2 years of life. The second aim was
to study whether preoperative orthopedics, that is, the wearing of an
acrylic plate, had facilitated the establishment of mutans streptococc
i and lactobacilli. The third aim was to determine other factors assoc
iated with colonization of these organisms in these children. Sixty-tw
o Caucasian Dutch children with cleft lip and/or palate participated i
n this study. Twenty-four of these children were treated with preopera
tive infant orthopedics and had been wearing an acrylic plate from wit
hin a few days after birth. At regular control visits plaque and saliv
a samples and samples from the surface of the acrylic plate were taken
, while a dental examination was performed to document the emergence o
f the primary teeth, caries status, gingival condition and oral hygien
e procedures. Saliva samples were also taken from the accompanying par
ents. At the visit at the age of 18 months, the parents were interview
ed using a structured questionnaire. At this age, the prevalence of mu
tans streptococci and lactobacilli was compared to that in a control g
roup of non-cleft children. The oral cleft children wearing an acrylic
plate from shortly after birth were colonized earlier with mutans str
eptococci and lactobacilli than the non-plate oral cleft children. In
the children wearing acrylic plates, the prevalence of lactobacilli de
creased with age, while the prevalence of mutans streptococci increase
d. At the age of 18 months the prevalence of mutans streptococci was c
omparable in both groups of oral cleft children and in the control chi
ldren. There was no relation between the numbers of mutans streptococc
i in the saliva of the mothers and their children. The presence of mut
ans streptococci in the saliva of the oral cleft children was signific
antly associated with between-meal snacking and with the presence of l
actobacilli.