E-ISSN: 1305-3612
Assessment of dental caries risk in children based on color Doppler US and the changes in blood perfusion in the salivary glands during salivary stimulation
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Head and Neck Imaging - Original Article
VOLUME: 18 ISSUE: 3
P: 239-247
May 2012

Assessment of dental caries risk in children based on color Doppler US and the changes in blood perfusion in the salivary glands during salivary stimulation

Diagn Interv Radiol 2012;18(3):239-247
DOI: 10.4261/1305-3825.DIR.4993-11.0
Ahmet Tuncay Turgut 1
Melek Dilek Turgut 2
Meryem Tekçiçek 2
Pınar Koşar 3
Pınar Özdemir 4
Uğur Koşar 3
Vikram Dogra 5
1. Departments of Radiology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
2. Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
3. Department of Radiology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
4. Department of Biostatistics, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
5. Department of Imaging Sciences University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York, USA
No information available.
No information available
Received Date: 14.08.2011
Accepted Date: 03.09.2011
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ABSTRACT

PURPOSE

To investigate in otherwise healthy children the association between the caries index, the stimulated salivary flow rate (SFR), and the spectral Doppler findings of the changes in blood perfusion in the salivary glands during the secretion of saliva.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study group consisted of 38 children with a mean age of 9.47±1.89 years. The caries index was calculated by determining the number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth. Groups A, B, and C represented subjects with low, moderate, and normal SFRs, respectively, calculated by obtaining chewing-stimulated whole saliva. All subjects were examined by color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) before and during secretory stimulation with lemon, by which maximum systolic velocity (MSV), pulsatility index (PI), resistive index (RI), and flow volume (FV) were calculated at the external carotid and facial arteries.

RESULTS

The differences for spectral indices obtained before and after stimulation were significantly different among Groups A, B, and C at the external carotid artery (P = 0.006 for delta MSV, P = 0.014 for delta PI, P < 0.001 for delta RI, and P = 0.022 for delta FV) and at the facial artery (P = 0.001 for delta MSV, P = 0.004 for delta PI, P < 0.001 for delta RI, and P < 0.001 for delta FV). In addition, significant correlations were calculated between the SFR and the aforementioned delta values.

CONCLUSION

CDUS enabled the evaluation of changes in blood perfusion in the salivary glands during salivary stimulation and may be a promising tool for the assessment of caries risk in children.