aliva due to its extensive association with all the tissues in the oral cavity seems as potent indicators for various elements. Thus any types of changes in salivary levels of these measurable elements can be considered as potential indicators and biomarkers for occurrence/progression disease condition. The most important trace element that has a role to play in the pathogenesis of dental caries are Ca, Na, Zn, Mg, Fl. Zinc plays a major role in adhesion growth and bacterial activity inhibition, Copper has been shown to have cariostatic action in rat models. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the salivary zinc and copper levels in association with dental caries.
After obtaining the ethical clearance the study was conducted among the 60 individuals reporting to the department of conservative dentistry and Endodontics A.B.Shetty memorial institute of dental sciences, Nitte University, Deralakatte Mangalore who can be included into the study based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Salivary samples were collected and assessed by Microwave Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (MP-AES) for copper and zinc levels in caries-free and caries active groups.
The values obtained were statistically analyzed using the SPSS version 2.0 software. Caries free group showed a mean salivary zinc level of 18.92 microgram/L with a standard deviation of 2.28. Whereas caries active group showed a mean salivary zinc level of 6.04 microgram/L with a standard deviation of 2.35. The values show a significant difference between the two groups. Also, the caries-free group showed a mean salivary copper level of 4.58 microgram/L with a standard deviation of 2.37. Whereas caries active group showed a mean salivary copper level of 38.05 microgram/L with a standard deviation of 17.50. The values showed a significant difference between the two groups.
Key words: Copper, Zinc, Trace elements, saliva, dental caries.
