Assessment of oral health, salivary alterations, and parental KAP in children with congenital heart disease.

Authors

Kavita Dhinsa, Brinda Suhas Godhi, Sonali Saha, Ayushi Singh, Arunima Sarkar, Antra Singh

Published in

Journal of oral biology and craniofacial research. Volume 16. Issue 4. Pages 101504. Epub Aug 17, 2026.

Abstract

Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) are at high risk for infective endocarditis (IE), with poor oral health being a key portal for bacteraemia. Data holistically integrating clinical status, salivary defence mechanisms, and parental behaviors in this vulnerable population are scarce.
To compare the oral health status, salivary parameters, Streptococcus mutans levels, and parental knowledge-attitude-practice (KAP) between children with CHD at risk for IE and healthy controls.
This cross-sectional comparative study enrolled 65 children with IE-risk CHD and 65 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (aged 3-12 years). Assessments included the DMFT/deft and Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S). Unstimulated saliva was analyzed for flow rate, pH, buffering capacity, viscosity, osmolality, and secretory IgA. S. mutans was quantified via culture. Parental KAP was evaluated using a validated questionnaire.
The CHD group had significantly higher mean DMFT (4.2 ± 2.1 vs. 1.8 ± 1.5; p < 0.001) and OHI-S scores (2.5 ± 0.7 vs. 1.2 ± 0.5; p < 0.001). They exhibited compromised salivary function (reduced flow, pH, buffering, sIgA; p < 0.05) and elevated pathogenic markers (viscosity, osmolality, S. mutans counts >10⁵ CFU/mL; p < 0.001). Parental KAP scores were significantly lower in the CHD group (p < 0.001). Regression analysis identified CHD status (β = 2.1, p < 0.001), low salivary flow (β = -0.8, p = 0.002), high S. mutans (β = 0.5, p = 0.01), and poor parental practice (β = -0.3, p = 0.03) as key predictors of caries severity.
Children with CHD exhibit a deleterious triad of severe caries, dysfunctional salivary defences, and inadequate parental preventive practices. These findings mandate the integration of point-of-care oral screening and structured parent education into routine cardiac follow-up to mitigate IE risk.

PMID:
42694697
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 04 Sep 2026.

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