Abstract
It has been reported that the salivary occult blood test is useful both for the detection of periodontal disease in the early stages and for the diagnosis of periodontal disease in the adult stage.
The purpose of this study was to discover if the salivary occult blood test is also useful for the Screening of gingivitis in such young children as elementary school children and junior high school students. The results obtained from this study with the PMA index, the relative chromaticity of gingiva and the salivary occult blood test before and after brushing in 76 school children and 115 junior high school students were as follows.
1. In both the elementary school children and the junior high school students, a significant correlation was observed between the PMA index and the sensitivity to the salivary occult blood test after brushing.
2. The Screening Line between (-) and (±) of the salivary occult blood test after brushing was between 15 and 16 of the PMA index.
3. An increase in a tendency towards gingivitis was observed on the gingiva of the front teeth, comparing the junior high school students to the elementary school children.
4. The gingiva of the molors of the school children contracted a pubertive gingivitis or an eruptive gingvitis which bled more easily than that contracted by the junior high school students.
