association of salivary scd14 concentration levels with early childhood caries

background: early childhood caries (ecc) is a severe type of dental caries affecting infants and pre-school children. because of the infectious nature of the disease, the immunologic response by the host plays an essential role in its development. objective: this study investigated the association between the presence of salivary scd14 and ecc. methods: this study was carried out on 40 healthy children, of whom 20 were caries-free (cf) and 20 had ecc, within the ages of 36 to 71 months. unstimulated saliva of the children was collected with disposable needle-less syringe from buccal and labial vestibules. seven children with ecc received complete treatments. saliva was collected for a second time after 3 months from this group. the scd14 levels in salivary samples were analyzed by elisa method. results: mean concentrations of scd14 in ecc and cf groups were 57.82 and 31.92 ng/ml respectively (p=0.008). after three months, the mean concentration of scd14 among the treated children decreased to 11.38 ng/ml, which was significantly lower compared to that of ecc children before intervention (p