Secretor status and dental caries in Iceland |
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| Authors: | WP Holbrook CC Blackwell |
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| Institution: | Faculty of Odontology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland;Department of Bacteriology, University of Edinburgh Medical School, Ediinburgh, U.K. Scotland |
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| Abstract: | Abstract The proportion of non-secretors of ABH blood-group substances among Icelanders is one of the highest recorded for European countries. Dental caries prevalence is also very high. In this study of dental caries in young adults mean number of decayed, missing and filled teeth for secretors were 17.4 and for non-secretors 19.9 ( P < 0.05). A majority of patients seeking free dental treatment in the Dental School were non-secretors (62.7%) significantly more than the proportion of non-secretors in the general population (36%; P < 0.01). It is postulated that blood group substances may interfere with the adherence of Streptococcus mutants to teeth. |
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| Keywords: | Dental caries Iceland Non-secretors |
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