Background: this cross-sectional study evaluated the correlation of commercial chair-side saliva tests with caries status in adults.
Methods: teeth in 87 adults (20-40 years old) were clinically examined for carious lesions according to International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) criteria. The Decayed-Missing-Filling-Tooth (DMFT) and Decayed-Missing-Filling-Surface (DMFS) indexes at D1 (lesions 1-6 according to ICDAS criteria) and D3 (lesions 4-6 according to ICDAS criteria threshold and the number of active lesions, according to the Lesion Activity Assessment (LAA)) criteria were measured. The saliva parameters measured by chair-side tests were stimulated and non-stimulated saliva flow rate, saliva consistency, saliva pH, saliva buffer capacity, and lactic acid production. The statistical analyses performed were Student t-test and Mann-Whitney U test at a = 0.05 significant level.
Results: the low resting saliva pH was related to a high value of DMFT (D1) index (p = 0.007).
Conclusions: among the saliva parameters measured, the values of low resting pH are associated with increased DMFT at threshold D1. None of the chair-side available saliva tests evaluated can accurately underline the tooth carious status.
Keywords: DMFT; buffer capacity; caries; lactic acid; saliva.