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Med. Pr. 2006;57(3):239-244

The state of teeth and low salivary secretion in miners working at different workposts and depths

Stan uzębienia i hiposialosekrecja u górników pracujących na różnych głębokościach i stanowiskach

Ewa Błąkała-Zawronek, Michał Kaszuba, Leszek Ilewicz Medical University of Silesia, Bytom, Poland

Abstract

Background: The aim of this work was to find out whether a relationship between the workpost in the mine and the state of teeth and salivary secretion does exist. It was investigated whether different environmental conditions find their reflection in miners' dentition, and also whether excessive dustiness can be responsible for low salivary secretion. Materials and Methods: Four groups of miners were analyzed: those working in coal face and walls, and those working at depths of 525 and 1030 m. Martinśs and DMFT indices were used to assess the condition of teeth. Results: The lowest value of DMFT coefficient (18.2) was found in miners working in walls and the highest (19.7) in miners working in coal faces; the values of Martinśs coefficient were 16.68 and 17.46, respectively. The difference between values for miners working at depths of 525 and 1030 was insignificant (0.1). Arithmetical means for saliva investigation were very similar in all groups. Conclusions: There were no essential differences in the dentition of the miners working at different workposts. The relationship between excessive dustiness, reduced saliva secretion and increased DMFT coefficients was ascertained.

Key words

dust, DMFT index, Martinśs index, salivary flow