Colonización de la cavidad oral por Streptococcus grupo mutans, según edad, evaluado en saliva por un método semi-cuantitativo

objective: to evaluate the colonization of group mutans streptococci according to age, measuring the amount of bacteria in saliva with a semi-quantitative method in a population attended in public and private dental centers of the metropolitan region, santiago, chile. patients and methods: saliva samples were obtained from 14,649 patients aged 5 to 40 years, in one public and 5 private dental centers. bacteria concentration was estimated by the comparison with a standard counting-chart. the concentration of group mutans streptococci in saliva was test by a 3-way anova. results: bacterial concentration of streptococcus mutans related with the age of patients was significant (p < 0.001). bacterial concentration in the preschool age was 4,7 x 105 cfu/ml at 5 years, while 6,0 x105 cfu/ml at 12 years of age, with a decrease in patients over 30 years. bacterial concentration was significantly different in the six centers of the study. conclusions: the semi-quantitative method was useful to determine the colonization by streptococcus mutans according to age. this could help for identifying population at high risk of dental caries and to develop oral health prevention programs in specific populations.