Dental Calculus Deposition: Correlation With Salivary Statherin and Calcium Levels

Objectives Salivary constituents have a wide range of functions, including oral calcium homeostasis. Salivary proteins, such as statherin inhibit the crystal growth of calcium phosphate in supersaturated solutions and interact with several oral bacteria to adsorb on hydroxyapatite. Concurrently, saliva, which is supersaturated with calcium phosphates, is the driving force for plaque mineralization and calculus formation. The present study has, thus, been carried out to correlate salivary statherin and calcium concentration with dental calculus formation. Materials and Methods The study comprised 90 participants (58 males and 32 females) aged 20–40 years. Participants were grouped according to the calculus index viz. Group I (control calculus index), Group II (low calculus index), and Group III (high calculus index). After collecting saliva, the salivary calcium and statherin levels were estimated for each participant, and the data were entered into a master chart. Results The mean salivary statherin levels were found to be 1.305 ± SD 1.302, 0.986 ± SD 0.591, and 1.21 ± SD 0.473 in Groups I, II and III, respectively. The calcium levels increased from Group I to Group III (2.221, 5.067, and 10.072 mg/dL, respectively). Salivary calcium levels showed a significant positive correlation with the calculus index (0.639) ( p < 0.001). Conclusion Salivary concentrations of calcium appear to play an essential role in the dental calculus formation. Salivary statherin exhibited a statistically nonsignificant, modest negative correlation with both calcium concentrations and the development of calculus.