Prevalence of black tooth stains and dental caries in Brazilian schoolchildren

Abstract

This study evaluated the correlation between the presence of black extrinsic tooth stains and caries in Brazilian schoolchildren. The target population consisted of 263 children aged 6-12 years. Clinical examinations were performed by four dentists calibrated for the World Health Organization criteria for caries diagnosis. The c(2) test was used to compare the prevalence of caries between groups of children with and without black tooth stains. Spearman's correlation test was used to analyze the relationship between the presence of black stains and caries severity. Black stains were observed in 14.8% of the children. The number of children with caries-free permanent dentition was not statistically different between groups. The mean DMF-T was 1.46 +/- 1.39 for children with black stains and 2.42 +/- 2.09 for children without black stains. A negative correlation was observed between the presence (r = -0.16; p<0.05) and severity (r = -0.15; p<0.01) of black stains and DMF-T.

Biofilms of black tooth stains: PCR analysis reveals presence of Streptococcus mutans

“…Analyzing the biofilm of black extrinsic tooth stains, some authors found a positive correlation between the presence of stains and the low incidence of caries (2,12). However, other studies (13,14) did not find such a correlation. The discordant findings can be related to the multifactorial nature of caries disease and the hypothesis that the positive correlation between the presence of black stains and the low incidence of caries is a simplistic and unifactorial evaluation.…”

“…The presence of black extrinsic tooth stains has been associated with low occurrence of caries in patients with these stains when compared to patients presenting healthy tooth surfaces (6,11,12), but this finding could not be confirmed by all authors (13,14). Reasons for these results are not clear but it has been speculated that they are related to the specific oral microflora described in black stain-affected individuals (15).…”

Black stains and dental caries in Brazilian schoolchildren: a cross-sectional study

“…Other non-populational studies found this association in permanent dentition 9,10 . In contrast, a few other studies failed to detect such association 11,15 .…”

“…The only population-based study investigating black stains in primary dentition, in the same city that our investigation took place, has also found a low prevalence (3.6%). This variation between studies can be attributed to differences in sample selection when the evaluation is performed at public schools 11 or rural schools 9 or as this study that evaluates public and private school population 10 . Additionally, there may be differences in data collection since information about the training and calibration of examiners is not explained in detail.…”

“…Some studies have shown that the presence of black stains (BS) could be associated with a lower prevalence of dental caries in children 9,10,11,12 , possibly due to differences in microbial composition in individuals with BS 13 . A population study in a birth cohort showed that when the researchers controlled for potential confounding and mediator factors, the presence of BS could have a protective effect for the occurrence of dental caries in primary dentition (age 5) 14 .…”