Methods: Dental examinations were performed in a group of Ramathibodi Hospital patients who have joined the previous genome-wide association study. We calculated decayed, missing and filled surface (DMFS) scores and then analyzed the DMFS with the 579 candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the 18 candidate genes with previous reports of plausible biological roles in cariogenesis by ANOVA.
Results: None of the candidate SNPs yields significant association after bonferroni correction (p<0.000086). However, two SNPs showing the most significant association with DMFS score in this study were rs10246939 and rs1726866, located on chromosome 7 (p=0.0017) in the TAS2R38 gene (taste receptor, type 2, member 38). Higher DMFS scores were observed in the group of patients carrying homozygous mutant alleles and heterozygous alleles than in the homozygous wild-type alleles (p=0.0054 and 0.015, respectively).
Conclusions: The taste gene, TAS2R38, may play a role in caries susceptibility. Replication study of the suggestive loci is recommended to confirm their associations and further development of intervention strategies.