Assessment of Salivary pH, Secretory IgA, Streptococcus Mutans Levels and Overall Health of the Children after Consumption of Curd.

Background: ECC remains one of the most chronic infectious childhood disease and the factors include presence of cariogenic bacterial along with a diet containing carbohydrates and over time can lead to the development of carious lesion.Secretory Iga is the natural immunity of a person to fight against pathogens and their presence can control the multiplication and colonisation of S.mutans bacteria.Regular intake of probiotic increases secretory Iga levels gradually within a period of few months. Curd a form of fermented cow milk has probiotic bacteria in it. The scientific use of curd as a probiotic has not been much examined.

Methodology: A total of 100 children between the age group of 8-9 years were selected for the study. Study Group included 85 children and the control group had 15 children. Standardized curd was provided to children in study group and a diet without curd for control group for a period of 3 months.Questionnaire survey, saliva sample and estimation of salivary pH, salivary Iga and S.mutans levels were estimated before and after 3 months of the study.

Results: A reduction in S.mutans levels and mean salivary pH were noted in the study group alongwith an increase in the mean salivary IgA levels which was statistically significant.

Conclusion: Reduction in S.mutans level in the study group shows that inclusion of curd in diet can be a natural and alternative method to reduce caries. Salivary Iga has also shown to increase after consumption of curd which also has anti cariogenic property along with the improvement in the immunity of the children. The reduction in salivary pH was noted to be well above the critical pH in the study group.Hence, the inclusion of curd in diet has shown improvement in appetite and reduction of health problems in children.