Salivary TNF-? andAlkaline Phosphatase in Relation to Gingival Health Condition According to Nutritional Status among a Group of School Children

This study was planned to determine gingival health condition among children in relation to the salivary ALP and TNF-. The sample consisted of (103) healthy school children aged 6-8 years from Baghdad city, those children were divided according to their nutritional status and their gingival health condition was inspected using plaque index (PlI) and gingival index (GI). Unstimulated salivary sample was taken from a subsample selected randomly to determine the level of AlP and TNF-. The results showed that 43 children were overweight whereas those who had normal weight were 60 children. Most of the study sample had mild type of gingivitis, however, comparison of plaque index and gingival index in different nutritional status groups revealed no significant difference. Although correlation of PlI with TNF- reveled negative weak non-significant relation in the normal weight group, a positive weak non-significant relation in the overweight group was present. On the other hand, correlation of the PlI with alkaline phosphatase revealed negative weak non-significant relation in both normal weight and overweight children. On conclusion there were non-significant relation among the gingival health condition with TNF- and AlP among different nutritional status groups of children.