Sweet Taste Perception and Dental Caries in 13- to 15-Year-Olds: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Dietary habits and, in particular, the intake frequency of sucrose are of major importance for the development of dental caries. The perception of sweet taste is believed to have an influence on sucrose intake and therefore affects the predisposition to dental caries. The aim was to study the caries experience and sweet taste perception and to further analyze the possible relationship between the 2 tested variables in 13- to 15-year-old children from 3 different geographical areas. A cross-sectional survey comprising 669 children (220 Italian, 224 Mexican, and 225 Saudi Arabian) was conducted. The children were examined in their school setting. A sweet taste perception level was determined by the sweet taste threshold (TT) and sweet taste preference (TP). The sweet test was performed with sucrose solutions varying in concentration from 1.63 to 821.52 g/L. The International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) and DMFS indices were used to diagnose caries. The highest mean value for TT was found for Italian children followed by Saudi and Mexican. Saudi schoolchildren showed the highest mean values for TP and DMFS, followed by Italian and Mexican. A statistically significant difference for TP, TT, DMFS, and initial caries was found between the 3 countries. A weak yet positive correlation was found between taste perception (TT and TP) versus DMFS and manifest caries in all 3 countries (r = 0.137-0.313). The findings of the present study showed a variation in sweet taste perception between the 3 countries, which may influence the caries outcome of the children in the individual countries.

Caries severity and socioeconomic inequalities in a nationwide setting: data from the Italian National pathfinder in 12-years children

“…Caries decline in Italy was confirmed by the trend recorded in Sardinian twelve years old children 7 . Recent data 8 , 9 also confirmed the decline, but findings are referred to small geographical areas and different assessment methods were used for data collection.…”

Caries reporting in studies that used the International Caries Detection and Assessment System: A scoping review

“…Studies differed in their grouping of caries scores. For example, nine different caries surfaces measures and seven caries teeth measures were identified in this review. Some studies grouped them to classify caries as dentin and enamel lesions while others classified them as initial/early, moderate/established and severe/extensive lesions .…”

Taste perception in school children: Is there an association with dental caries?

“…The taste perception level of each basic taste was assessed using a modified version from Wendin et al 29 . The test followed the original method explained in the literature 23,29,30 . We formulated aqueous basic taste solutions of sucrose (Merck, Germany, purity >99,5%), sodium chloride (Sigma-Aldrich, USA, purity >99%), caffeine (Merck, Germany, purity >99,5%), and citric acid monohydrate (Sigma-Aldrich, USA, purity >99%), at low and high levels 31 .…”

“…Inclusion criteria for this trial were children aged 6-13 without any chronic disease and children who had no antibiotics and drug intake within the last month. The exclusion criteria were children with disabilities, children with fixed orthodontic appliances, children for whom informed consent was not obtained from parents, children with a disease that effect their taste judgement 23 .…”