The Study of the Level of the Steroid Hormone Cortisol in the Saliva of Civil Aviation Pilots and Flight Attendants for Assessing Relationship With Their Dental Status

Functional and structural changes in the muscles, temporomandibular joint and hormonal composition of saliva may be closely related to the state of the flight crew’s anti-stress system. In order to study the effect of the level of the steroid hormone cortisol in saliva on the condition of the dental system of civil aviation pilots and flight attendance, its quantitative assessment was carried out by laboratory analysis. A clinical oral exam and a short Hamburg test were conducted to evaluate dental status for all examinees. Both groups were divided into subgroups according to the number of flight hours: «3000 hours» of flight time. Two parallel groups of young civil aviation flight personnel were tested twice for saliva for cortisol, and were retested after 3 months. The results obtained were statistically processed, analyzed and described. The average value, standard deviation, median, minimum and maximum values were calculated to get the results. Nonparametric Mann–Whitney criteria for independent groups and Wilcoxon criteria for related samples were used to compare the results in groups. During primary and repeated saliva analysis, in the group of pilots in 95% of cases and in the group of flight attendants in 85% of cases, cortisol hormone levels corresponding to the reference values of the norm were obtained, which may indirectly indicate the effect of adaptive mechanisms. The study found that 5% of the results in the pilot group exceeded the reference values of the norm, with a maximum value of 8.00 nmol/l. In the group of flight attendants, the number of results. The study of the the clinical features of the musculoskeletal complex state of the two parallel groups allowed to identify in 40% of the surveyed civil aviation pilots increased abrasion of occlusal contacts associated with insufficient canine protection, which is absent in the group of flight attendants as well a greater number (1.8 times) of cases of limited mouth opening.