COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF ORAL MICROBIOTA OF CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES BORN TO CARIES FREE MOTHERS

Objectives: To compare the level of mutans streptococci in children with and without Early childhood caries (ECC) born to caries free mothers.Methods: Twenty children aged between 3 and 6 years were selected depending on their caries experience, and the mother should be caries free inboth the groups. The children were divided into two groups. Group I had an active carious lesion and Group II were caries free. Saliva samples werecollected from the child and the mother in a sterile tube and bacterial culture was carried out to estimate the colony count.Results: There was a highly significant difference in the colony forming unit (CFU) between the 2 groups, indicating higher CFU in children with ECC.Conclusions: Even though there are higher chances of vertical transmission of MS from mother to their child, this study provides a new view thatmother alone is not a potential factor for mutans streptococci transmission to their child.Keywords: Mutans streptocci, Early childhood caries, Colony forming unit

Single-rooted primary first molars

Knowledge regarding the morphological variations in roots and root canals aids in successful dental treatment. However, literature regarding dysmorphology of roots in primary dentition is sparse. The purpose of this article is to present a case of bilateral primary mandibular first molars with an unusual morphology of single root. Review of literature regarding variations in root number in primary dentition has been discussed in this article. The etiology for occurrence of such variations has also been briefly reviewed