A comparative study of plaque mutans streptococci levels in children receiving glass ionomer cement and amalgam restorations

Purpose: The restorative materials amalgam (Standalloy F) and glass ionomer cements (Chelon Silver) were comparatively investigated to determine the number of mutans streptococci. Methods: Saliva and plaque were collected from patients before and 40 days after the insertion of their restorations. Results: Total bacteria and mutans streptococci counts were found to be statistically significantly reduced when compared with the prerestoration counts in the saliva samples (P<0.001). Microbiological analysis of the dental plaque showed that the number of mutans streptococci in the glass ionomer cements was significantly lower than in the amalgam restorations (P<0.001). Conclusions: This study showed that silver glass ionomer cements inhibited the growth of mutans streptococci.