The effect of oral contraceptive on the oral health with the evaluation of Salivary IgA and Streptococcus Mutans in some Iraqi women

Abstract

Aim: To assess if there is any effect of using oral contraceptive and the duration ofusing on the inflammatory responses of the gingival tissues , concentration ofsecretary immunoglobulin A ( IgA) and the colony count of mutansStreptococcusMS in saliva .Methods: This study includes 80 women in their reproductive age (16-40) year. 40women who were using oral contraceptive in different duration, as the study groupand 40 women who not used oral contraceptive and it were assigned to the controlgroup. Both groups were clinically examined (for dental caries using DMFSIndex, and gingival condition using gingival index GI of Loe&Silness ) andlaboratory assessment (by using non stimulated saliva for each woman wascollected and homogenized then Mutans Streptococci (MS) were counted,isolated, purified and diagnosed according to morphological characteristic andbiochemical tests also, the Salivary IgA concentration was measured by usingsingle radial immune diffusion method in different duration of oral contraceptiveusing ).Results: Gingival index was significantly higher among oral contraceptive users thannon-users (P<0.01), which was correlated with the duration of usage (r=0.50).sIgA concentration higher in study group than in control group (P<0.01)which also increased positively with duration of using(r=0.80). A positivecorrelation between sIgA and gingivitis (r=0.54) was found. DMFS Index and thenumber of MS colony were highly significant in study group than the control(P<0.01). MS colony count was positive correlated with duration of usage(r=0.88) but the DMFS had too weak correlation with the duration of using whichwas a non significant at (P>0.05).Conclusion: The use of contraceptive pills for a long period increases the likelihoodof gingival inflammation and significantly associated with increase sIgA level, sothe regular use of oral contraceptive seems to enhance mucosal immune functionin study subjects.