Examining Stress Salivary Biomarkers in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Dental Procedures

Pediatric patients are susceptible to show signs of fear. One of the scenarios that have always been a source of fear is undergoing a dental procedure. Fear of undergoing dental procedure has been addressed as "dental fear", which can lead to avoidance of receiving dental care and may result to a decline in proper oral hygiene.

Fear stimulates multiple cerebral responses and can be often related to an increased stress level. Stress level fluctuations during dental procedures can be examined by blood and salivary biomarkers. Given accessibility and minimal invasiveness, the collection of saliva samples constitutes an easy and cost-effective diagnostic method to investigate a variety of oral and systemic conditions. Cortisol and alpha amylase are present within the saliva and their levels are supposedly influenced by stress. In contrast, salivary IgA is not known to be influenced by stress level and can be used in comparison as a non-stress salivary biomarker.

Fear of dental appointments is a well-known cause of stress and activation of the sympathetic nervous system in adolescents undergoing dental procedure. However, the examination of stress and stress-related factors in young individuals attending their first dental appointment compared to young individuals who present for an orthodontic application is largely understudies.

Therefore, the aims of the study are: 1) to measure stress salivary biomarkers in pediatric patients before undergoing dental and/or orthodontic procedures; 2) assess whether subjective stress to dental treatment (as measured by dental anxiety, stress, and dental fear) is associated with objective stress measurements (as measured by collection of stress salivary biomarkers).