Dental News - Salivary microbiomes of children show sex-specific differences

Dental Tribune International

Mon. 1. July 2019

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada: Dental caries represents one of the most common chronic diseases in young children and is a multifactorial disease. Women exhibit higher caries incidence than men, but it remains unclear whether the same disparity is found in children. A poster presentation on the topic of sex-specific differences in the microorganisms associated with dental caries found in children’s saliva was given by Stephanie Ortiz of the Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, U.S., at the 97th General Session and Exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR).

Saliva specimens were collected from 85 children—41 boys and 44 girls—between the ages of 2 and 14 years. Microbial DNA was isolated using an isolation robot and then subjected to polymerase chain reaction amplification.

Significant differences in oral microbiota were found between caries-active boys and girls. The primary microbial genera associated with caries in young children include Actinobaculum, Atopobium, Aggregatibacter and Streptococcus. Actinobaculum, Veillonella parvula and the acid-generating Lactococcus lactis, all microorganisms associated with dental caries, were found in much higher prevalence in caries-active girls than boys, indicating that these microorganisms may play a more significant role in girls to shape their cariogenic microbial environment.

The poster presentation, titled “Gender-specific differences in the salivary microbiome of caries-active children,” was given on June 21, 2019. The IADR General Session and Exhibition was held in Vancouver in conjunction with the 48^th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental Research and the 43^rd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research.

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