J Bagh College Dentistry Vol. 31(4), December 2019 Personality Types 14 Personality Types in relation to dental caries and salivary testosterone among teachers in Baghdad city Raya Rashid Al-dafaai, B.D.S, M.Sc. (1) Ban Sahib Diab, B.D.S, M.Sc., Ph. D. (2) Huda Jameel Abd Al- Ghani, M.A. Ph. D. (3) ABSTRACT: Background: Personality could be defined broadly as those characteristics of individuals that describe the pattern of feeling, cognition and behaving. Personality types can be measured by using one of personality type’s measures. Personality has been proposed to influence the oral health. The purpose of the present study was to assess the influence of Personality Types on caries experience in relation to salivary testosterone hormone among teachers in Baghdad city. Materials and Methods: Female teachers (n=534) of randomly selected schools were subjected to personality questionnaire using The Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator. Teachers were examined to estimate the caries experience according to the decayed-missing and filled index (DMFS). A group of teachers were randomly selected from the total sample for salivary analysis of testosterone. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 18 software. A probability value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Data analysis showed that the higher percentage of teachers was Helpers as the dominant Type. The results showed statistical high significant differences in mean values of DMFS among the nine Personality Types. No significant correlation was found between salivary testosterone concentration (pg /ml) with the scores of the Nine Personality Types. No significant correlation was found between salivary testosterone concentration (pg/ml) and caries experience. Conclusions: The identification of Personality Types and their relations with dental caries can permit the assessment of the individual's susceptibility and facilitate the improvement of the individual's oral health. Keywords: Personality Types, caries experience, salivary testosterone. (Received: 15/11/20115; Accepted: 13/12/2015) INTRODUCTION Riso and Hudson defined personality as “a collection of internal defenses and reactions, beliefs and habits about self and world that have come from childhood experience where the heredity factors predispose child to have certain temperament”. They developed Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator (RHETI) to be a scientifically validated forced-choice Personality Types test with 144 paired statements (1) . Dental caries is “a complex disease caused by a physiological imbalance between fluid and mineral dental biofilm which is also known as plaque” (2) . Psychological factors have been paid attention in relation to dental caries. During the last decades, researchers tried to find the relationship between caries and personality (3, 4) . Later on, it was suggested that personality is a risk factor with respect to dental caries and should be considered when using patients’ reports (5) . Psychological wellbeing and a lack of stress have been attributed to health maintenance. Thus, biological factors can be influenced by psychological factors in the development of chronic diseases like dental caries (6) . 1. lecturer. Department of Preventive Dentistry, University of Baghdad. 2. Assist. Prof. Department of Preventive Dentistry, University of Baghdad. 3. Assist. Prof. psychological research center, University of Baghdad. Various factors can influence the experience of stress in the individual like person’s perception of the situation, past experiences, the presence or absence of social support, and individual differences such as motivation, attitudes, and personality (7) . Stress has been studied in relation to dental caries in different studies (8, 9, 10) . It was suggested that the association between stress and prevalence of caries could be attributed to salivary changes in flow rate and composition (11) . One of the important effects of stress is the reduction in testosterone production. Researches indicated that elevations in cortisol lowered testosterone (12) . Stressful situations as experienced during work have been shown to decrease testosterone levels (13) . The production of testosterone in women is much smaller than in men, but these small amounts have crucial role in the health and well-being of women. Testosterone is important in the growth and maintenance of skeletal muscle, and may play a significant role in the maintenance of bone mass and inhibit osteoclastic function (14) . Testosterone can relieve anxiety and depression, and promotes clearer thinking. Low level of this hormone was observed in female with depressive disorder and anxiety disorder (15) . No previous study was conducted to determine the effect of different Personality Types on dental caries and few reports regarding salivary