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ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2017 | Volume
: 35
| Issue : 1 | Page : 83-85 |
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Genetic specificity to 6-n-propylthiouracil and its association to dental caries: A Comparative study
Vidya B Vandal1, Hina Noorani1, PK Shivaprakash1, Basavaraj Walikar2
1 Department of Pedodontics, P.M.N.M Dental College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India
2 Department of ENT, Al-Ameen Medical College, Bijapur, Karnataka, India
| Date of Web Publication | 31-Jan-2017 |
Correspondence Address:
Vidya B Vandal
Unnati, Plot No. 60, Manas Residency, Darga Road, Bijapur - 586 103, Karnataka
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0970-4388.199233
 Abstract | | |
Introduction: Dental caries is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases to affl ict humanity. Although caries has multifactorial etiology, inherited genetic behavior and taste threshold may play an important role on caries. Material and Method: Thirty mothers and thirty children in the age group of 6–14 years of both sexes who have stable mental condition and ASA physical status were selected for the study & 6-n-propylthiouracil testing is done. Results: It is observed that nontaster siblings have higher caries prevalence than medium tasters and supertasters. Discussion: Genetic sensitivity to taste is an inherited trait in children from their parents, inheritance from mother being more pronounced. Hence, this study is intended. Conclusion: Dental caries is multi-factorial. No significant correlation between susceptibility of mother and child to genetic sensitivity exists, and genetic sensitivity is not the only criteria for severity.
Keywords: Caries teeth, nontaster, 6-n-propylthiouracil test, taster
How to cite this article:
Vandal VB, Noorani H, Shivaprakash P K, Walikar B. Genetic specificity to 6-n-propylthiouracil and its association to dental caries: A Comparative study. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent 2017;35:83-5 |
How to cite this URL:
Vandal VB, Noorani H, Shivaprakash P K, Walikar B. Genetic specificity to 6-n-propylthiouracil and its association to dental caries: A Comparative study. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent [serial online] 2017 [cited 2021 Jan 26];35:83-5. Available from: https://www.jisppd.com/text.asp?2017/35/1/83/199233 |
| Introduction | |  |
Oral health is one of the important elements of general health. Many oral diseases are rarely preventable. Dental caries is the single most common oral health problem of childhood.[1] By the age of seventeen, about 80% of childhood population is affected by dental caries.[2] Oral bacteria, dietary carbohydrates, genetic predisposition, and low socioeconomic status are risk factors for dental caries. Food preference for children is learned, and specific genetic sensitivity to taste may be associated with a preference for or rejection of some foods by children.[3] Sensitivity to taste is an inherited trait in children. Children can be supertasters, medium tasters, or nontasters as determined by the subject taste threshold.
6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) is pharmacological drug used in the treatment of Grave's disease (hyperthyroidism). Being extremely bitter, PROP can be treated at very low concentration. Thus, bitter property of PROP is useful tool in determining genetic sensitivity to bitter and sweet tastes. There are very few studies conducted in childhood on taste perception and caries prevalence. Hence, the study is undertaken to compare and contrast the prevalence of different genetic sensitivity levels to bitter taste of PROP among mother and child and to correlate its relation to dental caries.
| Materials and Methods | | |
Source of data
Thirty mothers and thirty children in the age group of 6–14 years of both sexes who have stable mental condition and ASA physical status 1 who have reported to the Department of Pedodontics, PMNM Dental College, Bagalkot city, Karnataka, were selected for the study.
Exclusion criteria
- Children under antibiotic and any other medication
- Children and parents not willing for the study.
Methods
A trained calibrated examiner performed a clinical examination with the assistance of one recorder. All the teeth were examined for coronal surface caries and restorations according to the WHO's decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (DMFS) criteria.[4] The subject taste quality (bitter/spicy/sweet/other) preference of food products was recorded with the help of a simple subjective questioner of both child and mother.
6-n-propylthiouracil testing
The PROP paper used in this study was a rectangular piece of 2.1 cm, Whatman's No. 3 filter paper containing 1.6 mg of PROP, prepared at the Department of Pharmacy Dental College, Bagalkot, Karnataka. Following data collection, the filter paper containing PROP was placed on the dorsal surface of the participant's tongue for 30 s to determine the genetic ability to taste bitter or sweet substance. It was ensure that participants abstained from consumptions of any form of diet at least 2 h before the PROP testing. When the bitter taste was at a maximum, the participant would rate the intensity of bitterness on the modified Green's scale (20, 21) and would be classified into groups of supertasters (>60), medium tasters (12–60), and nontasters (<12). All clinical examinations and PROP testing were carried out at the same time of the day (mid-morning) throughout the study.
| Results | | |
The study population included thirty healthy children aged 6–14 years and their respective mother. Among them, 16 (53.3%) were boys and 14 (46.7%) were girls [Table 1] and [Figure 1].
| Discussion | | |
Flavor is the primary dimension by which young children determine food acceptance. Sensitivity to the bitter taste of PROP is an inherited trait.[5] The current understanding of bitter taste advanced from the discovery and study of the TAS2R family of taste receptor genes. Genotypes at the TAS2R38 locus predicted sensitivity to the bitter compound PROP in children and adults.[6] The result showed correlation between DMFS and taste perception. Women are more likely to be supertasters than men [Table 2] and [Figure 2]. Anatomical data revealed that women have more fungiform papilla than men.[7] Studies suggest that tasters and supertasters of PROP may also differ from nontasters in their taste preference and in their patterns of food rejection and food acceptance.[8] Looy et al. reported that PROP nontasters (both children and adults) were almost always sweet likers, whereas sweet dislikers were almost always PROP tasters.[9] In our study, women are more likely to be nontasters than men [Table 3] and [Table 4]. Parents and their children live in different sensory worlds not only because of age but also in some cases because of genetics. In our study, large of population belong to middle socioeconomic class and literacy level of above population is low. Mother being nontaster prefers high calorie sweet and spicy food, and she prepares the same which is consumed by all family members which predispose to carries all family members [Table 5]. In addition, children being having cravings for highly palatable food such as chocolates, carbohydrate-rich foods, and sticky fatty foods which add to the causation of dental caries. | Table 3: Decayed, missing, and filled surface scores in mother and children
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| Conclusion | | |
Dental caries is multifactorial. No significant correlation between susceptibility of mother and child to genetic sensitivity exists, and genetic sensitivity is not the only criteria for severity. Difference in the oral hygiene practice, food intake pattern, quantity, and frequency of food selection all play an important role in predisposing child to dental caries acquisition. Hence, mothers should be educated and motivated toward their children's good oral hygiene practice.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | | |
| 1. | Verma P, Shetty V, Hegde AM. Propylthiouracil (PROP) – A tool to determine taster status in relation to caries experience, Streptococcus mutans levels and dietary preferences in children. J Clin Pediatr Dent 2006;31:113-7.  |
| 2. | Vargas CM, Crall JJ, Schneider DA. Sociodemographic distribution of pediatric dental caries: NHANES III, 1988-1994. J Am Dent Assoc 1998;129:1229-38. |
| 3. | Downer MC. Caries experience and sucrose availability: An analysis of the relationship in the United Kingdom over fifty years. Community Dent Health 1999;16:18-21. |
| 4. | World Health Organization. Oral Health Survey; Basic Methods. 4 th ed. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1997. |
| 5. | Drewnowski A, Henderson SA, Barratt-Fornell A. Genetic taste markers and food preferences. Drug Metab Dispos 2001;29(4 Pt 2):535-8. |
| 6. | Mennella JA, Jagnow CP, Beauchamp GK. Author Manuscript; Available in PMC; JAM Diet Asso 11 March 2006;106(supp):s96-106. |
| 7. | Bartoshuk LM, Duffy VB, Miller IJ. PTC/PROP tasting: Anatomy, psychophysics, and sex effects. Physiol Behav 1994;56:1165-71. |
| 8. | Drewnowski A, Rock CL. The influence of genetic taste markers on food acceptance. Am J Clin Nutr 1995;62:506-11. |
| 9. | Looy H, Weingarten HP. Facial expressions and genetic sensitivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil predict hedonic response to sweet. Physiol Behav 1992;52:75-82. |
[Figure 1], [Figure 2]
[Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3], [Table 4], [Table 5]
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