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Updated: Aug 1, 2025
Oral Biofilm Sampling for Microbiome Analysis in Healthy Children
Published on: December 31, 2017
Correlation between caries activity and salivary microbiota in preschool children
Xiuyan Lin1, Yuan Wang2, Zhe Ma3
1Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Hospital of Stomatology and Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Insights
Early childhood caries (ECC) is linked to oral microbiome differences. Specific bacteria like Scardovia and Selenomonas may help screen for high caries activity in children.
Area of Science:
- Oral microbiology
- Pediatric dentistry
- Infectious diseases
Background:
- Early childhood caries (ECC) is a prevalent oral disease in young children globally.
- ECC is strongly associated with caries activity (CA) levels in children.
- The oral saliva microbiome's distribution in children with varying CA remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate salivary microbial communities in preschool children with different CA and caries status.
- To analyze differences in salivary microbial composition based on CA.
- To explore the correlation between salivary microbiota and ECC.
Main Methods:
- Subjects were categorized into high, medium, and low CA groups using the Cariostat test.
- Caries status was assessed using the decayed, missing, filled teeth (dmft) index.
- Salivary microbial profiles were analyzed via 16S rRNA gene sequencing.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in salivary microbial structure were observed across CA groups (P < 0.05).
- Scardovia and Selenomonas were identified as biomarkers for high CA and high caries groups.
- Abiotrophia and Lautropia were biomarkers for low CA and low caries groups; Lactobacillus and Arthrospira were enriched in the medium CA group.
- A combined model including dmft score, age, sugary drink intake, and specific bacteria (Scardovia, Selenomonas, Campylobacter) achieved an AUC of 0.842 for screening high CA.
- Functional analysis revealed significant differences in 11 metabolic pathways among CA groups.
Conclusions:
- Salivary microbial composition differs significantly among preschool children with varying caries activity.
- Specific bacterial genera, notably Scardovia and Selenomonas, show potential as biomarkers for identifying children at high risk for ECC.
- These findings contribute to understanding the oral microbiome's role in ECC pathogenesis and screening.
Abstract:
Early childhood caries (ECC) is the most common chronic infectious oral disease in preschool children worldwide. It is closely related to the caries activity (CA) of children. However, the distribution characteristics of oral saliva microbiomes in children with different CA are largely underexplored. The aim of this study was to investigate the microbial community in saliva of preschool children with different CA and caries status, and to analyze the difference of microbial community in saliva of children with different CA and its correlation with ECC. Subjects were divided into 3 groups based on the Cariostat caries activity test: Group H, high CA (n=30); Group M, medium CA (n = 30); Group L, low CA (n=30). Questionnaire survey was used to explore the related influencing factors of CA. According to the caries status (on the basis of decayed mising filled teeth), these subjects were divided into caries-free group (dmft=0, n=19), caries-low group (0 < dmft ≤ 4, n=27) and caries-high group (dmft > 4, n=44). Microbial profiles of oral saliva were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. There were significant differences in the microbial structure (P < 0.05). Scardovia and Selenomonas were the biomarkers of both H group and high caries group. The genus Abiotrophia and Lautropia were the biomarkers of both the L group and the low caries group, while the Lactobacillus and Arthrospira spp. were significantly enriched in the M group. The area under the ROC curve of the combined application of dmft score, age, frequency of sugary beverage intake, and the genus Scardovia, Selenomonas, and Campylobacter in screening children with high CA was 0.842. Moreover, function prediction using the MetaCyc database showed that there were significant differences in 11 metabolic pathways of salivary microbiota among different CA groups. Certain bacteria genera in saliva such as Scardovia and Selenomonas may be helpful in screening children with high CA.
