{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T15:11:56Z","timestamp":1771254716952,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":76,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771200000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Project of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ni\u0161, Serbia","award":["INT-MFN-11"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["INT-MFN-11"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: This exploratory study aimed to investigate potential differences and associations between salivary hBD-2 levels and dental caries, as well as between unstimulated salivary pH and salivary hBD-2 levels, in children with primary and permanent dentition, aiming to profile these two dentition-development groups. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included children with primary (n = 75) and permanent dentition (n = 78). Data were collected by surveying mothers and clinically exam ining their children. Unstimulated saliva samples of the children were collected to determine salivary pH and hBD-2 levels. Spearman\u2019s rank correlation coefficient was used to assess the correlation between the examined variables. Results: Children with permanent dentition had a significantly higher mean salivary hBD-2 level (p = 0.044), while children with primary dentition had a significantly higher mean unstimulated saliva pH (p &lt; 0.001). No significant correlation was determined between salivary hBD-2 levels and dental caries, nor between unstimulated saliva pH and dental caries in either group of study participants (hBD-2: p = 0.515 and 0.224; pH: p = 0.121 and 0.061, respectively). A significant negative association between salivary hBD-2 peptide levels and unstimulated saliva pH in children with permanent dentition was revealed (rs = \u22120.230, p = 0.043). Conclusions: Salivary hBD-2 levels were higher in children with permanent dentition, with an inverse association with unstimulated saliva pH observed only in this group. No significant correlation was found between salivary hBD-2 levels and dental caries. Further well-designed studies are needed to better understand dentition or age-related variations in salivary hBD-2 levels, their association with unstimulated salivary pH, and their potential as a caries biomarker.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics16040591","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T14:09:54Z","timestamp":1771250994000},"page":"591","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Comparative Analysis of Differences in Salivary hBD-2 Levels and Their Correlation with Dental Caries and Unstimulated Saliva pH in Children with Primary and Permanent Dentition"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4375-7519","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Branislava","family":"Stojkovi\u0107","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marija","family":"Igi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tatjana","family":"Jevtovi\u0107 Stoimenov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3506-0946","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olivera","family":"Tri\u010dkovi\u0107 Janji\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2689-8088","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aleksandra","family":"Ignjatovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Statistics and Informatics, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Milo\u0161","family":"Kosti\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6564-5131","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Milica","family":"Petrovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Simona","family":"Stojanovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nikola","family":"\u017divkovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ana","family":"Stojanovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zorana","family":"Veli\u010dkovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dentistry, Medical Faculty Ni\u0161, University of Ni\u0161, 18 000 Ni\u0161, Serbia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"126","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-051X.2010.01664.x","article-title":"Antimicrobial peptides and periodontal disease","volume":"38","author":"Gorr","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. 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