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Effects of inhalational anti-asthmatic medications on oral health between 7 and 14 years of age

Introduction: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, usually characterized by chronic airway inflammation. The World Health Organization considers asthma as the most important chronic respiratory disease of the childhood. Aim: The aim of this study was to observe the changes in oral health and salivary pH, of asthmatic children aged between 7 and 14 years, treated with different combinations of inhaled medication. Materials and Methods: A total of 120 children aged between 7 and 14 years were divided into two groups of which 60 were asthmatic children and the rest 60 were nonasthmatic which were served as control group. Dental caries was assessed using decayed missing filled tooth (DMFT) index for permanent teeth and decayed extracted filled tooth (DEFT) index for primary teeth. Oral hygiene status was determined by simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S) and modified (OHI-S) index for primary teeth. The resting salivary pH was estimated using pH strips and comparison was made between both groups. Results: The mean value of dental caries (DMFT and DEFT) was found to be significantly higher among study group compared to control group (P < 0.05), while for salivary pH, it was significantly lower among the study group compared to control (P < 0.05), whereas oral hygiene status was statistically not significant in relation to anti-asthmatic medications. Conclusions: Children with asthma have higher caries prevalence, lower salivary pH compared to the control group, which can be due to use of anti-asthmatics medications.