Associations between poor maternal oral health and the risk of early childhood caries (ECC) were discussed during a presentation March 26 at the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) 2022 annual meeting.
Freida Blostein, MPH, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor gave an online presentation in which she discussed a study involving 99 children with white spots or lesions (diagnosed before the age of 6) and 90 matched control participants. Children provided saliva samples at two and 12 months of age and then yearly thereafter.
Saliva samples were sequenced for the V4 region of the 16S ribosomal DNA gene to measure the bacterial community. The researchers identified EEC-associated taxa using random forests and tested to see whether the presence and abundance of cariogenic taxa were associated with presence and abundance in maternal samples.
Although maternal transmission of cariogenic microbes has been a source of concern, the researchers found little correlation between maternal and child salivary microbiomes before the age of 2, according to a news release from the AADOCR.
By contrast, bacteria correlated between mothers and children were associated with a lower risk of EEC, the release stated.
Blostein's presentation was a virtual interactive talk; the abstract is available on the AADOCR's annual meeting hybrid platform.
