Utility of Salivary sIgA as a Marker for Assessing the Stress Caused by Dental Treatment

The change in the secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) level in saliva has received remarkable attention in recent years as an index of mental stress. Here, we examined its utility for assessing the stress caused by dental treatment. To achieve this, we measured salivary sIgA levels in children before and after dental treatment, and assessed their levels of stress by analyzing the change in salivary sIgA following treatment. Overall, 83% of the subjects showed a decrease in their salivary sIgA after treatment. Furthermore, the overall level of sIgA decreased significantly following dental treatment (p<0.01), suggesting that the children suffered increased stress following treatment, since increased stress results in decreased salivary sIgA. The level of sIgA was significantly decreased after prolonged treatment time (=20 min; p<0.01), the use of infiltration anesthesia (p<0.01) and surgical operation (p<0.01). Moreover, the level of salivary sIgA was significantly lower in children who showed cooperative behavior during treatment (p<0.01), indicating that stress may be reduced, in part, by uncooperative behavior. These results indicate that changes in the salivary sIgA level may represent an index for monitoring the stress of dental treatment, which changes following treatment. Taken together, as a non-invasive and convenient method for evaluating the stress caused by dental treatment, the level of salivary sIgA represents a promising clinically relevant marker.