Abstract
Lactobacillus count in saliva of pregnant women were examined in relation to dental caries incidence during gestation. Conclusions reached were summarized as follows. 1. Lactobacillus counts were conducted on one hundred pregnant women and 60 control women. Culture medium used was ′Tomato-Peptone-Agar′ (Eiken) supplemented with Natrium azide. 2. The mean number of laetobacillus colonies in the saliva of pregnant women was 599 in contrast to 241 in the saliva of control women which meant approximately 2.5fold. 3. Lactobacillus count in the saliva of pregnant women reached the highest level in the 4th month followed by the 2nd and 3rd during gestation. 4. The rate of caries incidence among pregnant women was 3.4 percent on the average. Although the rate increased toward the end of gestation, it was not accompanied by any parallel increase of lactobacillus count in the mouth. 5. No significant difference in lactobacillus count was found between multiparous and primiparous subjects. 6. Comparison made between groups of different age stages disclosed that older groups rather than younger groups had much higher lactobacillus count. 7. Comparison between subjects having decayed teeth and those having healthy teeth disclosed so far unsuspected result that lactobacillus count in the former was rather low as contrasted with that in the latter subjects.
