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Updated: May 30, 2026

Oral Biofilm Sampling for Microbiome Analysis in Healthy Children
Published on: December 31, 2017
Mode of birth delivery affects oral microbiota in infants
P Lif Holgerson1, L Harnevik, O Hernell
1Department of Odontology, Cariology Section, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden. pernilla.lif@odont.umu.se
Abstract:
Establishment of the microbiota of the gut has been shown to differ between infants delivered by Caesarian section (C-section) and those delivered vaginally. The aim of the present study was to compare the oral microbiota in infants delivered by these different routes. The oral biofilm was assayed by the Human Oral Microbe Identification Microarray (HOMIM) in healthy three-month-old infants, 38 infants born by C-section, and 25 infants delivered vaginally. Among over 300 bacterial taxa targeted by the HOMIM microarray, Slackia exigua was detected only in infants delivered by C-section. Further, significantly more bacterial taxa were detected in the infants delivered vaginally (79 species/species clusters) compared with infants delivered by C-section (54 species/species clusters). Multivariate modeling revealed a strong model that separated the microbiota of C-section and vaginally delivered infants into two distinct colonization patterns. In conclusion, our study indicated differences in the oral microbiota in infants due to mode of delivery, with vaginally delivered infants having a higher number of taxa detected by the HOMIM microarray.
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