Abstract
Dental caries is still one of the most common diseases to afflict mankind. It affects 34.1% of the global population. Some studies have reported that individuals with high sugar intake have higher dental caries rates. However, the physiological mechanisms underlying an individual’s craving for sweet substances were not well documented. It was also reported that taste sensitivity may be associated with the preference for or rejection of some foods. Sweet preference has been linked to bitter taste sensitivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). The PROP impregnated paper strip is proved to be a useful tool in determining the inherent sensitivity levels (super-taster, medium-taster, and non-taster) to bitter and sweet tastes. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between taste sensitivity to PROP and dental caries. The results showed a significantly larger number of untreated dental caries lesions among non-tasters compared to super-tasters. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the DMFT index value among the three groups. These results suggest that taste sensitivity to PROP could be a useful screening tool to identify individuals with high dental caries risk.
