Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of the antioxidant barrier in the saliva of children with caries, and its impact on the colonization of cariogenic bacteria.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 81 children aged 1–5 years. Antioxidant levels and salivary bacterial profiles were measured. Patients were divided into two groups as follows: initial stage decay, termed non-cavitated (1–2 in International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS)), and extensive decay, termed cavitated lesions (5–6 in ICDAS). The control group includes children without caries.

Results: The linear regression model demonstrated that the GSH, GSSG, GSH/GSSG, and total antioxidant capacity levels are influenced (P < 0.05) by: the stage of caries and the dominant bacterial strain. Compared with the other groups (P < 0.001), the highest antioxidant parameters were recorded in the saliva of patients with cavitated lesions.

Discussion: Our results indicate that the high levels of antioxidants in saliva increase significantly in children in line with the salivary cariogenic bacterial profiles and caries progression.

目的：本研究的目的是评估抗氧化屏障在龋齿儿童唾液中的作用，及其对致龋菌定植的影响。

方法：这是一项针对 81 名 1-5 岁儿童的横断面研究。测量了抗氧化剂水平和唾液细菌谱。将患者分为如下两组：初期腐烂，称为非空洞（在国际龋齿检测和评估系统（ICDAS）中为 1-2），以及广泛腐烂，称为空洞病变（在 ICDAS 中为 5-6）。对照组包括没有龋齿的儿童。

结果：线性回归模型表明，GSH、GSSG、GSH/GSSG和总抗氧化能力水平受龋齿阶段和优势菌株的影响（ P  < 0.05）。与其他组相比（P  < 0.001），空洞病变患者唾液中的抗氧化参数最高。

讨论：我们的研究结果表明，儿童唾液中高水平的抗氧化剂显着增加，这与唾液致龋细菌谱和龋齿进展一致。