Salivary zinc levels in mixed unstimulated saliva of children and its correlation with dental caries

Introduction: Zinc is the second most abundant trace element in human and animals. It is essential for the growth and development in humans and has diverse roles. While the effects of zinc on calculus and plaque growth have been reviewed extensively, its interaction with dental caries has received less attention. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study done on 60 children belonging to 4-6 and 12-14 years of age groups (30 children in each age group). After intraoral examination, the patients were categorised into low caries (deft <2) and high caries category (deft more than 5), with 15 children in each group. Saliva samples were collected, and the estimation of salivary zinc was done by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Statistical analysis used was Student's t-test, applied to test the association between high and low caries group. Results: The mean values of salivary zinc levels are significantly higher in the low caries category of both groups. The difference in mean salivary zinc values computed for Student's t-test among high and low caries category is found to be highly significant for both the age groups. Conclusion: Salivary zinc levels are negatively correlated with dental caries experience in both the dentition. The authors conclude that zinc can be used in toothpaste to reduce the caries prevalence.