Oral hälsa hos barn med och utan astma

Abstract

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease which is common in all ages. Over 300 million people worldwide are estimated to have the disease.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the oral health differs between children with and without asthma.

Method: The method used was a literature review and the literature searches were made in the medical database PubMed. The results were based on a compilation of 13 clinical scientific studies and 11 of these compared children with and without asthma. The remaining articles studied either how the oral health was affected by the combination treatment with specific drugs or compared the oral health of children with different duration and medication for asthma.

Results: Some of the included studies found that children with asthma had an increased cariesprevalence compared with children without asthma, while other studies showed that there was no difference between the groups. Regarding the plaque, bleeding and caries-related bacteria, the results were also conflicting. Medication with β2-agonist combined with corticosteroids contributed to a reduced salivary flow and an increased level of caries-related bacteria among children with asthma.

Conclusion: There are conflicting results regarding whether the oral health differs between children with and without asthma. Combination treatment with β2-agonists and corticosteroids contributed to a reduced salivary flow and an increased level of caries-related bacteria.