Effect of Dental Prophylaxis on the Salivary Cortisol Levels and Alpha-Amylase Activity in Children

The purpose of this study was to assess the pattern of changes in salivary cortisol, alpha-amylase and total protein in children undergoing dental prophylaxis, moreover, to investigate the effect of prior preparation to the intervention. 38 (9-10 year-old) children were equally divided into test and control group. Unstimulated whole saliva was collected before and after professional dental prophylaxis. Test group participated in a dentistry-related demonstration. Changes in salivary alpha-amylase, cortisol and total protein level were assessed. The test and the control groups showed divergent salivary cortisol level variations, at the test group the demonstration provoked a primary increase, which was even more enhanced at the end of prophylaxis, while the control group presented a reverse, decreasing tendency. Alpha-amylase showed similar baseline activities at the two groups, with slightly different, but non-significant decrease as test effect. The statistically significant increase of salivary cortisol and the correlating in-test changes of cortisol and amylase at the test group in opposite to controls, strongly suggests that the presentation was the actual stressor in this study.