Genotypic diversity and phenotypic traits of Streptococcus mutans isolates and their relation to severity of early childhood caries

Table 1 Description of the study population

	CF	ECC	S-ECC	p value
Age (months; mean ± SD)	44.4 ± 8.19^A	45.88 ± 9.42^A	46.37 ± 6.32^A	0.67
dmfs* (mean ± SD)	0^A	3.11 ± 1.83^B	22.6 ± 23.21^C	0.00
S. mutans isolates n (%)**	30 (78.9) ^a	32 (91.42) ^a,b	36 (100) ^b	0.00
Total S. mutans genotypes (identical genotypes)	21(14) ^a	20(12) ^a	18(8) ^a	0.62

*dmsf: tooth surfaces with caries (decay), indicated for extraction (missing) and filled
^ADifferent uppercase letters shows statistical difference among CF, ECC and S-ECC groups, according to ANOVA/Tukey tests (p < 0.05)
^aDifferent lower case letters shows statistical difference among CF, ECC and S-ECC groups, according to Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests (p < 0.05)
**Percentage calculated in relation to total number of MS isolated in each tested condition

ISSN: 1472-6831