Abstract Objective: To evaluate the sweetness taste preference levels and their relationship with the nutritional and dental caries patterns among preschool children. Material and Methods: The participants of this cross-sectional study were 191 children aged 4 to 5 years, who were regularly attending public Child Education Centers of a city southern Brazil. Children’s preference for sugar was evaluated by the Sweet Preference Inventory; caries prevalence, according to the World Health Organization criteria, and nutritional status, by anthropometric weight and stature measurements, in accordance with child growth standards of the World Health Organization. Results: High levels of sweetness preference were identified. The majority of children (67.5%) opted for the most concentrated sucrose solutions. Excess weight was recorded in 27.7% of the preschoolers. The prevalence of caries was 51.8%, with the mean dmf-t equal to 1.92 (± 2.72) and the decayed (c) component responsible for 94.2% of the index. No significant association between sweetness preference and the nutritional or the oral health patterns could be established. In addition, no association between excess weight and dental caries was identified. The diseases studied were only associated with sociodemographic variables. Excess weight was associated with maternal age (p=0.004) and caries experience with family income (p=0.013). Conclusion: No significant associations could be stablished between the sweetness taste preference and the diseases studied, nor between excess weight and dental caries. However, the findings of high patterns of sweet preference, excess weight and untreated caries experience, highlight the need for the implementation of integrated public policies aimed at controlling both nutritional and of oral health problems in the studied population.

Anti-dentin autoantibodies are associated with inflammatory root resorption in permanent teeth and are modulated by dental trauma and orthodontic force. However, it is not known whether deciduous tooth trauma can stimulate the development of a humoral immune response against dentin. The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of salivary SIgA reactivity against human dentin extract in young adults with a history of trauma in the primary dentition. A sample of 78 patients, aged 18 to 25, who had completed an early childhood (0 to 5 years old) caries prevention program years earlier at the Universidade Estadual de LondrinaPediatric Clinic, underwent radiographic examination and salivary sampling. Anti-dentin SIgA levels were analyzed by immunoenzymatic assay and Western blotting. Although dental trauma to deciduous teeth had occurred in 34 (43.6%) of the patients, no differences in SIgA levels were detected between individuals who had experienced trauma and those who had not (p > 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis showed no association between dental trauma and SIgA levels (p > 0.05). Patients with a history of deciduous trauma presented low levels of anti-dentin antibodies, associated with orthodontic root resorption (p < 0.05). Western blot analysis showed that salivary antibodies recognized a single band of approximately 45 kDa in dentin extract. We concluded that salivary SIgA recognizes a specific component of the dentin matrix and that anti-dentin antibodies were not triggered by trauma to primary teeth. However, trauma to deciduous teeth may down-modulate SIgA in response to orthodontic root response.