IADR Abstract Archives
AMY1 CN Variation and Dental Caries in Adults With Mental Disabilities
Objectives: Our pilot study aimed to explore preliminary trends in the relationship between AMY1 gene locus copy number (AMY1 CN) variation, sugar consumption frequency, and dental caries experience in adults with mental disabilities.
Methods: This cross-sectional pilot study included 57 adults with mental disabilities recruited from the Dental University Hospital in Vilnius, Lithuania, between 2023 and 2024. Bioethics approval was obtained, and participants’ guardians provided written informed consent. Clinical data on dental caries experience were collected using the decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (DMFS) index, and participants were divided into three dental caries experience categories: low, medium, and high. Sugar consumption frequency, assessed using the WHO Oral Health Questionnaire for Adults, was used to categorize participants into low and high sugar consumption frequency groups. Buccal swabs for genetic analysis were collected using hDNAfreeFLOQSwabs® and processed for AMY1 CN determination using the MagMAX Nucleic Acid Isolation kit with KingFisher Flex automated extraction system (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) and quantitative PCR assays. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed to focus on trends without emphasizing statistical significance.
Results: Out of 57 participants, 48 cases were included in the final analysis after excluding those with missing data. AMY1 CN ranged from 4 to 33 (mean 14.5, SD6.5). The mean AMY1 CN for the low-frequency sugar consumption group was 13.9 (SD5.3), and for the high-frequency group, 14.8 (SD7.1). In the low caries experience group, the mean AMY1 CN was 15.7 (SD7.4), in the medium caries experience group, 13.1 (SD4.1), and in the high caries experience group, 9.67 (SD4.9).
Conclusions: Our pilot study provides preliminary insights suggesting that higher AMY1 CN may be associated with more frequent sugary food consumption, while lower AMY1 CN may correlate with higher caries experience. These initial findings highlight the necessity for larger-scale studies to confirm these trends.
Methods: This cross-sectional pilot study included 57 adults with mental disabilities recruited from the Dental University Hospital in Vilnius, Lithuania, between 2023 and 2024. Bioethics approval was obtained, and participants’ guardians provided written informed consent. Clinical data on dental caries experience were collected using the decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (DMFS) index, and participants were divided into three dental caries experience categories: low, medium, and high. Sugar consumption frequency, assessed using the WHO Oral Health Questionnaire for Adults, was used to categorize participants into low and high sugar consumption frequency groups. Buccal swabs for genetic analysis were collected using hDNAfreeFLOQSwabs® and processed for AMY1 CN determination using the MagMAX Nucleic Acid Isolation kit with KingFisher Flex automated extraction system (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) and quantitative PCR assays. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed to focus on trends without emphasizing statistical significance.
Results: Out of 57 participants, 48 cases were included in the final analysis after excluding those with missing data. AMY1 CN ranged from 4 to 33 (mean 14.5, SD6.5). The mean AMY1 CN for the low-frequency sugar consumption group was 13.9 (SD5.3), and for the high-frequency group, 14.8 (SD7.1). In the low caries experience group, the mean AMY1 CN was 15.7 (SD7.4), in the medium caries experience group, 13.1 (SD4.1), and in the high caries experience group, 9.67 (SD4.9).
Conclusions: Our pilot study provides preliminary insights suggesting that higher AMY1 CN may be associated with more frequent sugary food consumption, while lower AMY1 CN may correlate with higher caries experience. These initial findings highlight the necessity for larger-scale studies to confirm these trends.