Quantifying Caries Risk in Pediatric Patients Utilizing Chair-Side Adenosine-Triphosphate Bioluminescence

Purpose: Evaluate chair-side caries risk assessment in pediatric patients utilizing ATP meters. Examine correlations between children’s caries experience and ATP bacterial scores and between child and caregiver scores. Methods: Patients, ages 2 to 6, presenting for initial examinations at UIC Pediatric Postgraduate Dental Clinic, were recruited with their caregivers. A swab of the teeth of the child and caregiver was read for bacterial score by CariScreen Bioluminometer. Child clinical dmft was recorded. Caregivers completed a questionnaire on demographics and dental care. Results: N=73 child-caregiver pairs. Mean child age was 3.5 years, with 45% male and 55% female. Two-thirds of participants identified as Latino, 16% as African American, and the remainder, other. Mean child ATP=7760; SD=1799. Mean child dmft=7.8; SD=4.7. High-risk children (ATP>1500), n=69. High-risk children (dmft>0), n=68. Sixty-four of 69 high-risk (ATP) children had clinical caries and 56 had parents who were also high risk. Correlation of patient and caregiver ATP scores was moderate but significant (r=.392, p=0.001). There was no correlation between ATP score and caries. Conclusions: The patient population at the UIC Pediatric PG clinic is at high risk for caries. Child and caregiver ATP scores correlate moderately, suggesting families may carry similar oral bacterial loads, but other factors may be more important. ATP scores were not specific enough to rule out caries risk in children, but nearly all patients were high risk and had clinical caries, so there was not sufficient variability to assess the ability of ATP scores to predict caries in this sample.