Redefining the Phenotype of Dental Caries

• Main Authors: Bogstad Søvik, J. (Author), Deeley, K. (Author), Forella, J. (Author), Mulic, A. (Author), Shirey, N. (Author), Tveit, A.B (Author), Vieira, A.R (Author), Weber, M. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: S. Karger AG 2018
• Subjects: adolescent; Adolescent; Caries detection; Caries prediction; child; Child; Child, Preschool; dental caries; Dental Caries; disease exacerbation; Disease Progression; DMF index; DMF Index; female; Female; genetics; Genetics; genotype; Genotype; human; Humans; kallikrein; kallikrein 4; Kallikreins; Longitudinal Studies; longitudinal study; male; Male; phenotype; Phenotype; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; preschool child; risk factor; Risk Factors; Saliva; single nucleotide polymorphism
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Dental caries is a multifactorial infectious disease and a major public health problem estimated to affect 60-90% of school children as well as a vast number of adults. The aim of this work was to define patterns of progression of the disease based on longitudinal data in contrast to using a cross-sectional assessment. dmft/DMFT scores were collected at ages 5, 12, 14, 16, 17, and 18 from 876 individuals. We tested our newly defined phenotypes for association with genetic variants in genes shown to be associated with caries. We generated genotyping data using Taqman chemistry in markers of genes involved in processes such as enamel formation and salivary contributions. Kallikrein 4 (KLK4) was found to show a significant association with the created phenotypes (p = 0.0008 in a recessive model for low caries experience in the primary dentition vs. high caries experience in the primary dentition, and p = 0.0004 in a recessive model for caries free primary dentition vs. high caries experience in the primary dentition). © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel. Copyright: All rights reserved.