Background

Dental caries has a multifactorial etiology, being the main three factors: host response, oral bacteria and substrate. The objective of this study was to identify the association between the Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus sp counts and salivary buffering capacity with the presence of dental caries in schoolchildren.

Method

A clinical examination was carried out and an individual salivary sample was taken from a population of children between 5 and 13 years old of four private elementary schools located in México City (Venustiano Carranza). The CPOD and CEOD index were calculated for permanent teeth and three microbiological tests were carried out.

Results

The prevalence for caries was 86.6%; the mean for the CPOD Index was 1.3 and for CEOD was 2.7; 40% of the studied popu lation presented high concentrations of Streptococcus mutans, 35% presented high concentrations of Lactobacillus sp; and 69% presented middle salivary buffering capacity.

Conclusions

A strong relationship exists between caries and the increase in s. mutans and Lactobacillus sp. colonies as well as a low salivary buffering capacity.