Intercomparison of salivary nitric oxide as a biomarker of dental caries risk between caries-active and caries-free children.

AIM: To determine the efficacy of salivary nitric oxide as a biomarker for dental caries risk in children and to compare the salivary nitric oxide levels in caries-active and caries-free children. METHODS: One hundred children aged 6-12 years were selected and were divided into two groups according to DMFT index: as caries-free consisting of 50 individuals (DMFT/dmft = 0) and caries-active group (DMFT/dmft >/=3) consisting of 50 individuals. The saliva collected was estimated for nitric oxide level by Griess reaction method. Paired t test was used to correlate the difference of mean salivary nitric oxide levels between caries-active and caries-free groups. RESULTS: The mean level of nitric oxide in saliva of the control group was 581.3 +/- 134.6 mug/mL and that of caries-active group was 335.4 +/- 111.1 mug/mL, respectively. The mean salivary level of nitric oxide was higher in the caries-free group as compared with the caries-active group which was statistically significant (p = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Salivary nitric oxide was higher in the caries-free group as compared to the caries-active group which suggests that increased production of nitric oxide in the oral cavity may contribute to lower caries incidence in children.