Presence of Streptococcus Mutans in Mother and Child and Occurrence of Dental Caries: A Clinical Study

Background: Caries continue to be a risk to children’s health and a stagnation of improvement has been seen the last years with 5% of Swedish three year olds being caries active. Earlier studies show a connection between presence of Streptococcus mutans in saliva and caries prevalence, and that Streptococcus mutans can be transmitted from mother to child. Aim: To study prevalence of Streptococcus mutans in three year old children and their mothers. To gain a deeper understanding of maternal transmission of Streptococcus mutans and other factors elevating the risk of caries in children. Methods: Saliva samples and questionnaires were collected from 150 Swedish mothers and their three year old children, and a clinical dental examination was performed. PCR-technique were used to look for Streptococcus mutans in the saliva samples. Results from the questionnaires and saliva experiments were analyzed using SPSS. Results: The total caries prevalence including initial and manifest lesions was 8%. Streptococcus mutans was detected in 48.7% of the mothers and 6.7% of the children. Significant correlation could be seen between early introduction to sugar and caries prevalence in three year olds. No significant correlation was seen between Streptococcus mutans in children and introduction to sugar or caries prevalence. Conclusion: In this small cohort of mother-child pairs, no correlation between children infected with S.mutans and mutans-positive mothers, as well as caries development in children could be seen.