Dental Caries and its Relation to Salivary Calcium and Phosphate Among Soft Drinks Factory Workers

Background: Soft drinks have many prospect health issues. It have both acidogenic and cariogenic effect due to its high content of acids and sugar. Soft beverages consuming was raised through the past some decades. This study was assumed to appreciate the physiochemical property of saliva with different frequencies of soft drinks consuming and its association with dental caries. This study aimed to study the influence of frequent consumption of soft bevarages on dental caries and its relation to calcium and phosphate. Subjects and Methods: Sample is composed of 80 workers, there age was (27-40) years old, who was working in Al-Waha Soft Drink Company located in Karbala governorate in Iraq. The sample divided into five categories according to frequency of soft drinks consuming into: those with several times daily, once daily, several times weekly, once weekly and several times monthly. Diagnosis and recording of dental caries was assessed according to Decay, Missed, Filled WHO index. Collection of unstimulated saliva from workers was done, then measuring salivary flow rate; and chemically analyzed to determine salivary PH, calcium and phosphate. The data was analyzed by SPSS version 21. Results: The result recorded highly significant at p<0.01 in "DMFS" and "DMFT" with the frequency of soft drinking. There was highly significant at p<0.01 in salivary flow rate and pH with frequency of soft drink consumption. Correlation between dental caries with salivary flow rate and pH by frequency of soft drinking, in which indirect relation between salivary flow rate and pH and both "DMFS" and DMFT" was found. There was marginal significant at p<0.05 in salivary calcium. There was direct relationship in those highly consumption of soft drinks (several times daily and once daily) between salivary calcium and both "DMFS" and "DMFT", but this relation was not significant, while it was highly significant in those several times monthly. It was found an indirect relationship in those several times daily and once weekly between salivary phosphate and both "DMFS" and "DMFT" that was highly significant. Conclusion: It is present from the result of this study the high frequency of soft drinks consuming connected with increase of the dental caries. The results were appeared significant variations in levels of salivary calcium and phosphate of the workers. Inorganic phosphate level in the saliva has a negative influence on the caries experience and negative relation with DMF index, so the caries activity was associated with depressed level of salivary inorganic phosphate.