Detection of Streptococcus mutans Genomic DNA in Human DNA Samples Extracted from Saliva and Blood

Table 2

Results of Pearson’s correlation test between caries experience and values of the threshold cycle of the real time PCR experiment.

Population	𝑁	DMFT/dmft average	rs statistics	T statistics	Degrees of freedom*	Two-tailed 𝑃-values
Argentina	98	7.44	−0.0831	−0.82	96	.41
Guatemala	109	6.87	0.07244	0.7513	107	.45
Turkey	175	3.68	0.3328	3.23	84	.002
Dental Registry and DNA Repository (DRDR)	666	15.98	0.02069	0.53	655	.6
Cariology Course	158	3.77	0.05079	−0.6352	156	.53
Center for Oral Health Disparities in Appalachia (COHRA) DNA from saliva	44	1.64	0.4343	3.161	43	.003
Center for Oral Health Disparities in Appalachia (COHRA) DNA from blood^#	174	6.91	No Streptococcus mutans detected
Total	1424

*Differences between 𝑁 and degrees of freedom bigger than 1 are due to samples that failed the assay. The control caries-free group from Turkey was not included in this analysis. ^#Distribution of the samples according to Dentocult TM Strip mutans scores assessed from saliva od the same subjects: 44 (<1 × 10⁵ CFU/mL); 45 (<1 × 10⁵ CFU/mL); 44 (1 × 10⁵ – 1 × 10⁶ CFU/mL); 41 (>1 × 10⁶ CFU/mL).